By Andrew Edwards, EAN Staff Writer
Photos by Edwards and Bob Ealum
It’s safe to say that the 2020 edition of the Prattville Mardi Gras Parade was another success.
Starting early, the festivities began in downtown Prattville with a car show and booths and food vendors opened their doors to treat everyone with food and games.
There were all sorts of delicious creole dishes, such as crawfish, shrimp and grits, and jambalaya.
Kids lined up to participate in different types of arts and crafts and had the opportunity to make balloon animals with one of the local vendors.
On top of that, there were many different “fair-like” locations where people could win prizes such as stuffed animals, inflatable aliens and various other toys.
But the real treat was the famous parade, which featured nearly 100 floats. Hundreds of people watched from the streets as floats of all kinds threw out beads and candy to onlookers – most of which were prepared by bringing bags from home.
There were antique cars, horses, motorcycles, and more traditional floats in the parade – one of which carried the Prattville Pops as they performed live creole music. Julie Price served as Grand Marshal for the event. She is the widow of former Mayor C. Gray Price, who passed away last year. Mayor Price loved all things Prattville and was a huge community support of special events such as the Mardi Gras parade.
“C. Gray was very passionate about Cultural Arts and loved the Mardi Gras Parade. He served as the Grand Marshal of the 5th Annual Mardi Gras Parade, and Julie was a participant of Prattville’s first Mardi Gras Parade. I believe Julie serving as our Grand Marshal honors and keeps C. Gray’s memory vibrant during this time of celebration,” said Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie, Jr.
The parade, which started at 2 p.m., lasted for nearly an hour. It was certainly another one of the great experiences that the City of Prattville has to offer.
Afterwards, many people chose to stay downtown to visit one of the area restaurants or bars to finish out the evening. Happy Mardi Gras all! See the entire photo gallery below! Tag anyone you know!
