The Krewe du Vieux was founded in 1987 from the ashes of the storied Krewe of Clones. This wild, satirical Carnival parade, which first marched in 1978, was based out of New Orleans' Contemporary Arts Center.
Unfortunately, in 1986, infighting among the Krewe/CAC leadership, combined with pressures from the City due to the parade occurring the night before the Super Bowl was to be played in New Orleans, caused the untimely demise of the Krewe of Clones. Not wishing to be denied a good time or any excuse for wild excess, two Clones sub-krewes -- the Krewe of Underwear and the Krewe of Mama Roux -- held a "Clone Funeral". An anatomically correct (and erect) clone was created and placed on a funeral cart, and a short march to a party site was planned.
KREWE DU VIEUX ROUTE
KREWE DU VIEUX ROUTE
At the last minute, the individual most responsible for the entire problem got word of the plans, and called the police on the unauthorized march. Informed by New Orleans' finest that they could not march in the street, since that would block traffic, the costumed mourners marched on the sidewalk, while eleven police cars rolled along next to them, blocking the street far more effectively than the marchers ever could have.
That same year, two other Clones sub-krewes, the Seeds of Decline and the Krewe of C.R.U.D.E., held their own informal march on Mardi Gras itself, in the French Quarter, with the theme of "The Stupor Bowl". After Carnival was over that year, the two groups got together, established an official parade date (three Saturdays before Mardi Gras, the old Clones date), and received permission to march in the French Quarter. Thus was born the Krewe du Vieux Carre (the old, French name for the Quarter), now shortened to Krewe du Vieux. The first Captain of Krewe du Vieux was Underwear's own Craig "Spoons" Johnson.
The following year, Susan Gibeault assisted Spoons as Co-Captain. In 1989, the third year of the parade, Ray "Plaine" Kern debuted as Captain, a post he would hold for ten years. Under Ray's watch the Krewe grew from about 150 drunks stumbling through the French Quarter in search of a bar, to become a relatively well-organized group of about 600 (most of them still drunk), with an actual parade route. Traditions such as the hand-made, hand- or mule-drawn floats and showcasing of the city's incredible brass bands became firmly established. The crowds watching the spectacle grew larger than Clones had experienced even in its heyday, and the annual Krewe du Vieux Doo, the ball after the parade, became one of the more storied parties of the year.
For the 1999 parade, the Captain's mantle fell on Keith Twitchell, who formed a committee of volunteers, known as the official Krewe du Vieux CABAL (or in some people's minds, the dirty dozen). Having burned out Captain "Plaine", we decided to make him King that year! And, in 2002, Katherine Cargo took on the leadership role as Captain Inertia. Membership capped out at 900 in 2003, the Krewe's 17th year; but the crowds continue to grow, and care is taken to make sure that Krewe du Vieux remains faithful to its satirical, outrageous and inebriated roots.
Deon Haywood: 2012 Krewe Du Vieux
Queen
Haywood runs Women With a Vision, Inc., (WWAV)
in New Orleans, La. WWAV was co-founded
by Haywood's mother and several other black women
in 1991 as a social service organization "to
promote wellness and disease prevention for women
and their families living at or below the poverty
line." It was created as a response to the
non-existence of HIV prevention resources for
women who
were the most at risk: poor women, sex workers,
women with substance abuse issues and transgender
women.
Over the years, WWAV has helped
hundreds of women -- mostly women of color --
by doing
outreach, distributing condoms and referring
women to other services they may need, such
as legal
assistance and housing. This type of work is
crucial, especially given that the U.S. Centers
for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently
announced that New Orleans and Baton Rouge
are among the three cities with the highest HIV
rates
in the country (only Miami, Fla., ranked higher).
Also, in New Orleans, women make up 39 percent
of new infections, and 79 percent of new
infections are among African Americans.
While WWAV will turn 20 years old
next year, it just started garnering national
attention
in the past few years. This is in part due
to the increased organizing and advocacy needs
in
a post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans.
In 2006, Haywood found that sex workers in
particular were in tremendous need. In order
to appear as
though New Orleans had its "
criminals" under control, the city resurrected
a 203-year-old crimes against humanity law that
had originally been created to prohibit
gay sex. This law now requires women who have
ever been arrested for prostitution to register
as sex offenders for a maximum of 10
years, to have the words "sex offender" printed
on their photo identification cards and endure
a number of other penalties.
"
There are even some women who had been charged
10 or 20 years ago, who have lost their jobs
and homes because they were now
registered sex offenders," noted Haywood.
How is this related to HIV? Those
charged with and sentenced under this law are
disproportionately
poor women of color who are at
elevated risk of HIV or who are already
HIV positive. Economic instability and homelessness
affect
these women's ability to adhere to
their medications or afford their basic
needs, and it places them right back into the
cycle
of sex work and drug use.
To address this unfair law, WWAV created
the NO Justice Coalition, which is comprised
of several
local organizations. The coalition
has lobbied city officials and garnered
media attention to try to get the law overturned.
This
December, it had its first success:
Lawmakers decided to change the first arrest
for prostitution from being prosecuted
as a felony to a misdemeanor, which is a lesser
charge and does not carry the sex offender
status.
This win is small and a long time coming.
The NO Justice Coalition is currently
working to have prostitution cases moved
out of criminal court to municipal court. Haywood
is hopeful. She told us, "Though it's been
a hard road and we've got a long way to go, things
are looking up."
Krewe du Vieux Sub-Krewes
Rue du Bourbon, Comatose, Krewe de Craps, C.R.U.D.E., Drips and Discharges, Inane, K.A.O.S., Krewe of Space Age Love, L.E.W.D, Mama Roux, Krewe du Mishigas, Mondu, Mystic Krewe of Pan, Seeds of Decline, Mystic Krewe of Sperms, T.O.K.I.N., Underwear
Past Themes & Royalty
2012 Theme: "Krewe Du Vieux Celebrates Crimes
Against Nature"
Queen 2012: Deon Haywood
2011 "Krewe du Vieux: 25 Years Wasted"
King 2011: Don Marshall
2010 "Fired Up" King 2010: Dr. John
Queen 2010: Mother Miriam Chamani
2009 "KDV's Stimulus Package"
Frankie Ford
2008 "Magical Misery Tour"
Ronald Lewis of the House of Dance & Feathers
2007 "Habitat for Insanity"
Chris Rose
2006
KDV SAYS “C'est Levee”
King Walter Williams
2005 "WWKdVD? (What Would Krewe du Vieux Do?)"
Al "Carnival Time" Johnson
2004 "The Quest for Immorality"
Coleen Salley
2003 "Off the Record"
"Uncle Lionel" Batiste
2002 "Depraved New World"
Andrei Codrescu
2001 "2001: A Space Fallacy"
Ernie & Antoinette K-Doe (and Grand Duchess Tee-Eva)
2000 "The Idiots and the Oddities"
Walt Handlesman
1999 "Krewe du Vieux's Urban Myths"
Ray "Plaine" Kern
1998 "Souled Down the River"
Irma Thomas with Grand Duchesses Marcia Ball & Tracy Nelson
1997 "Krewe du Vieux Goes Deep"
Buddy Diliberto
1996 "Krewe du Vieux Achieves Decade-ence"
Ronnie Virgets & Lynne Jensen
1995 "Unnaturally New Orleans"
GiO
1994 "The Ballot of New Orleans"
Danny Barker
1993 "Posthumorously Yours"
Henri Schindler
1992 "Krewe du Vieux Rights the News"
Angus Lind
1991 "Krewe du Vieux's Lost Conventions"
Ricky Graham & Becky Allen
1990 "Krewe du Vieux Smells Something Fishy"
Al Scramuzza
1989 "Krewe du Vieux Predicts"
Lois Simbach
1988 "Krewe du Vieux Eats Out"
Chef Paul Prudhomme
