Mardi Gras mambos through the Red Stick

Fat Tuesday celebrations continue through the Red Stick this weekend with the two biggest and best-known of the Capital City Krewes—Southdowns and Spanish Town. Southdowns rolls Friday, and is a popular family nighttime parade, with floats, marching bands and civic groups providing the glitz and sparkle. 7 p.m. Saturday, Spanish town celebrates 30 years of naughty parading through downtown with their theme, “BP Blows and Wiki Leaks.” Visit southdowns.org and spanishtownmardigras.com for more information. Sunday, you can head across the river for the Port Allen Krewe of the Good Friends of the Oaks at 1 p.m., another fun, family-friendly parade. Learn more at westbatonrouge.net. And on Mardi Gras day, New Roads rolls out two daytime parades—the Annual Community Center Carnival Club, and the Lions Carnival Parade. 11 p.m. and 1 p.m. newroadsmardigras.org