Mobile Mardi Gras

Mayor Sandy Stimpson is announcing the City of Mobile’s plans to tear down the 60-year-old Mobile Civic Center and construct a new, world-class entertainment destination suited for concerts, family shows and sporting events, including professional hockey.

In this edition of StoryCorps, Tim Watson asks his mother Myra about her experiences with Mardi Gras during her younger years. He gains valuable insight on the importance of the parade and learns some of the tricks her dad used to play on her and her siblings during the celebration.

Mardi Gras season in wrapping up in the Mobile area. The City of Mobile has a long history with the carnival season as they started celebrating the holiday when the city was founded in 1702. Fat Tuesday will be on February thirteenth which traditionally means that no celebrations will take place after midnight.

Mardi Gras is in full swing along the Gulf coast. One favorite carnival tradition is called a King Cake. It’s a large pastry shaped like a crown with cinnamon, chocolate, or cream cheese filling inside. It’s usually covered in gold, green, and purple sprinkles. There’s also a Fat Tuesday tradition that whoever finds the small, plastic baby hidden in a slice of king cake is granted good luck. They also have to bring a King Cake to the next gathering. Here’s the story of one Dauphin Island baker and how her Mardi Gras cakes are a family tradition…

Mardi Gras season back to Alabama, and a Mobile nonprofit is gearing up for the trash that comes with the celebrations. The Alabama Coastal Foundation (ACF) has a main goal to “improve and protect Alabama's coastal environment through cooperation, education, and participation.”

Alabama Public Radio reported last year on the Magnolia Breeze Youth Ensemble. The all-inclusive therapeutic band plays in Mardi Gras parades in the Mobile area. Here’s a follow-up...

The countdown to Mardi Gras begins in New Orleans as Carnival season kicks off with dozens of costumed revelers and a brass band set to crowd onto a streetcar for a nighttime ride down historic St. Charles Avenue. Meanwhile, a walking club in the French Quarter will march in its annual procession honoring Joan of Arc. Dauphin Island’s Krewe de la Dauphine parade is this coming Saturday.

So, what did you buy during the 4th of July holiday? It might have been a vacation or stuff for the backyard barbecue. The latest U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis report confirms Americans are spending less on durable goods like cars and more on services like air travel and hotels. This, even while some grocery prices continue to be stubbornly high. So, what gives? APR goes takes us all the way back to Mardi Gras in the Mobile to explain the psychology behind spending money

Mardi Gras is in full swing in the Mobile area. This carnival season is the tenth anniversary of the Magnolia Breeze Youth Ensemble. It may look like a drumline and dancers in the carnival parades, but it’s much more.

The city of Mobile is considering hosting a Carnival-style parade in May to make up for this year's missed Mardi Gras. The parade would take place…