Venice Mardi Gras - A Magical Mystical Tour!

People have really needed to blow off some steam lately, if the size of our annual Venice Mardi Gras parade was any indicator. The crowd was bigger and better this year, and the level of costume participation was unprecedented in my experience. The beautiful day might have had something to do with it too, as after weeks of super cold and wind and rain, we got a bright, warm, sunny day in which to revel in - and boy, did we revel!

The posted parade starting time was noon, but I knew this meant Venice Standard Time, and sure enough, the Mardi Gras Krewes assembling at the Rose Avenue beach parking lot were still there mingling at 1:30 PST. That was a good thing though, as more people showed up, and more people were more buzzed up after their time inside the Venice Ale House - which makes for a good parade. Mardi Gras Queen, Deanna Navakuku, and King Paul Rivas were all robed up and ready to reign over a day of Venice magic.

The costumes were very colorful and impressive, as most did their best to be on theme with the "Magical Mystical Tour" vibe chosen for this year. The actual cover of the similarly named Beatles album is pretty creepy, with like pig furries in scarves, but surrounding them is a swath of psychedelic Day Glo swirls ... so I went with the rainbow tie-dye (also honoring Venice's hippie past) and matching Mardi Gras mask. I feel I'll get more use from the dress for sure, in these parts - AND it's the 50th Anniversary of Woodstock this summer, so I'm all set.

There was a silvery jellyfish, a parrot, a majorette ballerina, a wizard, a butterfly (Miss Jessica Sugar Long - co-founder of this extravaganza with her husband Johann since 2001!), among a ton of other great outfits. As ever, the Venice sign was held by the purple jacketed members of the Windward Krewe. The Gumbo Brothers brass band (led by co-founder Johann Stein)and the hula hoopers finally struck up the tunes and begain to twirl, and we all set off down Ocean Front Walk, to the delight of the many tourists that had no idea that this was all happening. Just another colorful, fun day in Venice! If they only knew how precious and necessary these events are to keeping our Venice colorful, and yes, weird.

Everyone danced along, tossing out the colorful beads synonymous with Mardi Gras everywhere. (And by the way, this is a grass-roots party with Miss Jessica and Mr. Stein providing the beads and fun off-set only by donations!) Cameras were snapping all along the parade route as people couldn't believe their awesome luck to be in Venice on such a fun day.

People were hanging over their balconies - just like in New Orleans - and blasting off confetti guns to rain down on the parade passing by below. This got a grateful roar each time it happened, and amped up the good vibes even more. Visitors standing along the sides of the parade would join in so that by the time we all got to Windward Plaza, the crowd had grown to be pretty dang big.

We all danced around to "When The Saints Go Marching In" and "St. James Infirmary", posed for about a zillion more photos. Then it was time to head on into Surfside, where The Gumbo Brothers would keep the party going for all of the parade partiers long into the evening.

Tree Man was there, all dressed up in formal wear for the occasion! That was something special to see, and he had a tall friend this year, with a fellow on stilts done up to look like an Abbot Kinney sort. Good times indeed!

There was a special Mardi Gras menu at Surfside, featuring Po' Boys and Hurricanes, and the venue was once again a gracious host to all of the Venetians hell bent on having the best day ever - and I think that was pretty well accomplished.

Venice Paparazzi was there with a fun photo booth, and all the good moments were captured and then some. Had you just landed in Venice for the first time on this day, and seen all of this joy, fun, and love for a community, you would think this was the ultimate place to be, and that it lived up to all you'd ever heard about this magical, mystical place by the sea, as far west as one can go.

And that's just how we like it. These are just the kind of days that reaffirm we're all in the right place, all we types that don't want to be in a place that's just like everywhere else.

That's why we parade. That's why we dress up. That's why we make art and music and love here in Venice. So that we know that there is still someplace special in the world, where we are all free to be you and me. And THAT is how you let the good times roll!

One more awesome Mardi Gras in Venice, Everyone! Thanks and LOVE to everyone there who knows exactly what I'm talking about. You're all just the best.

Laissez les bon temps rouler! xxx

The 2018 Neptune Festival - Venice Summer Opening Ceremonies!

Venice, you're awesome. One of the very best times of the year here in our beach community is the annual Neptune Festival ... and this one we just had was a doozy. As happens just about every year, the June Gloom cleared out just in time for our yearly bacchanal of fun in the sun, as we officially declare it Summer in Venice!

This year's headquarters was at Surfside, who were also celebrating their one year anniversary. Live music jammed all day, and mermaids and mermen made merry all day long.

Neptune King 2017 Jeremy Marco and Neptune Queen 2017 Me were honored to pass along our beautiful, handmade (By the ultra-talented Rebekah Ozier) Neptune crowns to the newly chosen King Tonan Ruiz and Queen Beth Allyn, who presided over the day's festivities.

We made our departing speeches outside in front of Surfside, and implored the new royalty to carry on our traditions, and spread the good Venice vibes during their reign, from sea to shining sea. Once King Tonan and Queen Beth were crowned and given their scepters, and gave their speeches accepting their royal duties, it was time to parade to the ocean to mark the opening of Summer!

The fun people of Venice dressed up as merpeople or just colorful, fun people (and there was a Wizard, I saw), and we all traipsed across the sand under the portable Venice sign, shouting the traditional "Hail the King! Hail the Queen! Hail Summer! Hail Venice! Hail Yeah" all the way.

Tourists scrambled to capture the action on their phones, as we all gathered at the shore. King Tonan was, I believe, the first King Neptune to arrive from the water via his surfboard, and Queen Beth showed the summer spirit by going all the way underwater. It was all, quite simply, RAD.

The royal court of revelers joined Tonan and Beth in the water, and it was time for a zillion more photo ops, while the Hails continued to be yelled throughout the proceedings. So fun.

Once back on dry sand, King Tonan read the royal proclamation truly and officially declaring it SUMMER! And the royal subjects rejoiced!

We all paraded back across the sand, where King Tonan and Queen Beth were picked up in pedicabs and pedaled around back to Windward, where the party was well under way to greet the new royalty.

The Brobots were going off, and they had a special guest, former Neptune Queen Miss Jessica took over the mic, and belted out a Hendrix cover, and everyone wanted to stand next to her fire, believe me. She was awesome.

And so were The Brobots! They ripped up the stage all day, with the guitar player even climbing the walls at one point - as you do. People were dancing (and it's not easy in mermaid tails!) and day drinking and hugging and loving Venice all day long ... which is exactly the point of our traditions like these. Keeping it cool, keeping it special, keeping it unique, keeping it real Venice.

A blast was had by all ... but probably no one was feeling it more than King Tonan in this moment ...

And that's how the whole day felt ... groovy. Summertime is here, Venice! Make it a good one.

2018 Venice Mardi Gras - Wild At Heart!

One of the very most fun events in the Venice annual fun calendar is the Venice Mardi Gras Parade, and this year's carousing last Saturday might have topped them all so far! A cloudy day gave way to sunshine - as it can almost be counted on - as the Venice masses assembled for a little pre-parade tailgating in the parking lot at Rose Avenue and the Boardwalk. This year's theme was "Wild At Heart" and that vibe was apparent the moment you walked up. People were GOING FOR IT this year. We had to, in the name of humanity, and in the name of Venice FUN.

The Krewes of Venice were all there, and the crowd seemed bigger than ever. I think everyone has badly needed to blow off some collective steam, and the folks were ready to throw down for real.

It was all on Venice Standard Time, which meant that if the stated time of the parade was to start at noon, we'd probably get rolling at like 1:30 or so ... and that was about right. Mardi Gras Queen Colleen Saro and her King Steven Eustace led the shenanigans, and were handing out little pieces of their hearts all day. The moods were high, and all gathered were all about letting our good times roll!

The Gumbo Brothers brass band led the way down the Boardwalk, and  - as always - my favorite part of the day, aside from the deep sense of community, tradition, and total blast that it is, is when the unsuspecting tourists watch this cavalcade of joy and festivity go by as a total added bonus to their already awesome day in Venice. It's truly something to behold, and all you see the whole time is ear to ear grins and camera phones raised to try to capture it all. It's really better to just experience it, and remember the feeling in your heart ... because if you were there, you felt it right there.

Folks watching from high up windows of Ocean Front Walk apartments blasted off confetti crackers to the cheers of all of us below, and flasks were passed between friends and strangers, as parading is a thirsty affair. One gentleman created a giant J to pass around to the group - legally now, so haha!

Our local hula-hoopers  led the procession to the tune of our brass band brothers, and Gonzo Rock's drum machine bringing up the bass behind. Sidewalk performers played along, with one even packing up his stuff in an instant to join the whole parade, because why not?

I was dressed by my dear pal, Suzy Williams, and it was a fun trick and treat to cruise among my people in a blue wig without really being recognized until I said something ... I could get in the habit, actually. There's a certain new freedom in mingling about with total anonymity with people that have known you forever. Try it sometime!

You can't really write in words about the feeling of actually being there ... with all your O.G. Venice people, dressed up and showing the whole visiting world what we're really meant to be about. Venice is SUPPOSED to be about the free spirit and the adventurous, wild heart. It's why I chose to move here. It's why anyone did ... until the greed set in and the yupsters came, and think they know what it's about. They don't. But everyone gathered together yesterday, singing, playing, and dancing our way down the Boardwalk knew. And showed them all.

The parade always ends with a jam in the Windward Plaza, and as the Gumbo Brothers got down with the required "When The Saints Go Marching In" New Orleans homage, there was a full-on dance party - and photo opps aplenty (I'm pretty sure we're all about to be featured in a Japanese version of People or something ... LOTS of cameras were out!), and no end to the fun.

That's because it all turned into the parade PARTY, hosted by Surfside Venice. They had a special menu of Gumbo and Po' Boys, with Abita on tap, and Hurricanes aplenty (Ouch). The Gumbo Brothers were the house band for the day, and the good times just kept on rolling.

Miss Jessica Long is the ringleader of Venice Mardi Gras, and she was again in fine form this year, in sparkly wings and great voice. She took lead vocals for a spell, and Marky Lennon (of Venice band fame) backed her up, as if the event needed any more Venice cred. Partiers were dancing so hard that someone's entire dress might have come off ... and no one even blinked. Good times, indeed!

There was special King cake imported from New Orleans, and there was one for everyone ... regular for the kids, rum one for the grownups, and one infused with weed, that proved to be the most popular ...

... which might have been why that evening's sunset might have been one of the best ever. Everyone outside stopped what they were doing, and just sat still, watching this giant fuchsia ball of fire sink into the mighty Pacific. There was collective applause for this nightly ritual, but this one felt special on the tail end of this extra-fun day - though we did not see a green flash. Still all good.

Mardi Gras Venice People ... you're something else. THANK YOU ALL, because man, did we need that! As a town, as a nation, and as a collective group of like-minded, FUN-minded members of our Venice community that KNOW it's still one of the most special places on Earth. It's almost sad, though, because so many people that live here don't even know about it, or if they do, for whatever reason choose not to participate. That's on them, and sad for them, because it's one of the very best days of the year in our beautiful neighborhood that was built for just this sort of revelry. Not tech, not BUB people, not Big Little Lies type Moms, No. It was built for the music makers, and the dreamers of dreams by the sea. We who just want freedom to express, to love, and to welcome. And Saturday's Mardi Gras proved that, once again.

May our wild hearts prevail ... always. I love you, Venice!


*Now while I have you Mardi Gras participants as a captive audience, please consider taking your Spirits of Venice over to the First Baptist Church of Venice (7th and Westminster, across from Oakwood Park) on Sundays (12-3) to show your support and solidarity for preserving Venice history. Learn more about it all this Saturday, February 17th, at the Venice Library. Help keep ALL of our traditions alive!

The Summer Venice Art Crawl - Venice At Its Best

The Summer edition of the Venice Art Crawl was held last night all over town, and it was the best. I think I loved it even more than normal because I've been staying in Inglewood this week, feeling very removed from my home in Venice. I came back for the VAC, and my heart was full with all the Community love, excellent art, and the ocean breeze that we tend to take for granted when we're near it all of the time. It is a Heavenly gift, as was last night.

It's funny ... I've been getting looks all week in Inglewood like I might be a nasty gentrifier, and I just want to yell to everyone that I swear I'm not! I get it! I got booted from my home! One Love! It's pretty cool over here, but I just want to get back to what I know ... so I did. I began my evening at Hama Sushi, where I snagged a VAC map, and checked out the bright colors of Todd Goodman's work being shown outside on the sidewalk in the golden hour light. I especially dug the Jimi.

I stopped into Surfside to see who was there, and saw the excellent work by Mark Satterlee (who I saw up the road at a restaurant in Inglewood a few nights before! He also got priced out of Venice and relocated to the 'Wood), featuring a great piece of Larry Bell. It was still pretty early, so I headed out into the evening sunshine.  

The sunset is always a work of art unto itself, and I took the opportunity to stroll down the Boardwalk and soak up all of what I've been missing this week (I know it's just been a week. Still.). Bikers were heading to the Santa Monica Pier in droves to check out Eric Burdon (The Animals), but I needed to see my Venice people.

I got to see plenty of them at the very fun Park Place Block Party ... so many, in fact, that this stop wound up hogging a lot of my Crawl time. I didn't get to see as much of the art as I usually do, but the faces that I saw more than made up for it. There was art and fun in pretty much every yard along Park Place, all with refreshments and good vibes for all. I was very impressed by the stunning photography of Tanya Rogers, that felt as if you were inside of the photos, they were so vivid.

Steve Cheng was set up with a table of his whimsical art, and little characters that could be used as key chains or necklaces or whatever you feel like, and were adorable.

There was a whole bunch of ceramics up and down the block, all very great, especially the pottery by Kris Hansen being shown outside of Maureen Cotter's house. Mo was there being her usual gracious hostess self, and plugging her upcoming one woman show at Beyond Baroque (August 19th) that no one should ever miss.

Live music was provided by Apryll Aileen in a front yard set-up, and it created a groovy atmosphere.

 I spent the majority of my evening in her yard, telling my tales of late, and being buoyed up by the friends I have made in our Community over the last two decades. I'm consistently overwhelmed by the greatness and generosity of the real people of Venice. You're all something else and I love you forever! Thank you!

I knew the clock was ticking, and that I still had a lot of ground to cover, so as hard as it was to leave the now packed and bumping Park Place, it had to be done.

I met up with some crew back at Surfside for some libations, and to check out the "Eat Your Art Out" interactive art experience put on by Queen Dakota Rayfield. People could sit and make up their own art pieces, and I wish I'd had more time to sit and create. How fun!

I had to crack the whip as I had that missing out feeling, so then we all traipsed over to Paper, Scissors, Rock for the music and the blast that we had at the last Art Crawl.

We blew it and missed the tunes - bummer - but still got to dip inside and see the art real quick. Josh Bagel Klassman had his awesome pieces of Venice history on display, and I once again made a note of which ones I need when I once again have walls to decorate. His stuff is top shelf (like the Calavera tequila he'd just been gifted by Jim Robb!).

The party raged on in the parking lot, so we didn't have to feel like we missed out on too much. The whole night was a big Neptune Reunion (it's just been a month, but hey! Needed.) and all of myself and King Jeremy's royal subjects were still in the mood to party, thankfully. Love you all!

We zoomed by the Canal Club to see what we could see, and were impressed by the incredible watercolors by Louisa McHugh. You need to see them in person, but wow. A real talent.

As a writer, I also very much liked the typewriter pieces on display from Krista Nassi. Hooray for words!

My fellow Queen, Miss Jessica, was my co-Crawler, and a more stunning art aficionado you'd be hard pressed to find. We needed to get a move on to go hear her husband, Johan, get down with The Gumbo Brothers back at Surfside, so off we raced down Speedway.

A quick pit stop at C.A.V.E. Gallery was not to be, as we missed them by minutes. Kid Acne's great work was on the walls, so we sneaked a peek through the window, and will be back.

The good times were rolling hard by the time we rolled back up to Surfside (getting to be our new headquarters already!), with the Gumbos in full swinging mode. Dancing, dining, drinking, and getting down was all under way, and I looked around and felt home once again. After soaking this all up for as long as I could I had to get back to Inglewood to avoid being a lame house guest. But I didn't want to.

I had a blast with all my Venice homies, and as I rode back across the 405, I was reinvigorated. I know where I belong, and who my people are. The Venice Art Crawl is truly Venice at its best, celebrating what we're all about. Showing off, really. This is the thing you want to bring people to in order to help them get what real Venice means. Art. Music. Creativity. Fun. The Real Deal.

Oh, I love you, Venice. But you knew that.

*See you at the Afterburn Art Crawl September 21st!