The Bayou Mardi Gras Association is bringing in a taste of New Orleans for its annual parade Saturday.

The Warren Easton High School Marching Band will marching with the parade, which goes through downtown New Iberia at 6 p.m. Saturday. The 105-piece band is fresh from its most recent performance at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome during halftime of the playoff game between the New Orleans Saints and Carolina Panthers. 

The band is also a regular at all major New Orleans Mardi Gras parades including Endymion, Bacchus, Rex, Hermes and more. The band will make the trip to New Iberia on Saturday and will be briefly stopping at Catholic High School, where the CHS marching band and faculty will play host and escort the band to the parade route. 

“We were looking for something new and exciting that we could offer to parade goers and build upon the success of last year’s parade. We decided to move the parade to a Saturday night as opposed to Friday and we started looking for something a little extra,” Mike Wattigny, a founding member of the Bayou Mardi Gras Association, said in a prepared statement. “In doing so, we decided to bring in a taste of New Orleans Mardi Gras for all to enjoy.”

The parade also will feature nearly two dozen fully lit and decorated floats, local high school marching bands from Delcambre, New Iberia Senior High School, Catholic High School and Westgate High School, dance schools, pageant queens and honorees.

This year’s grand marshal will be former governor and New Iberia native Kathleen Blanco. Local veterans will be serving as honorary grand marshals. 

The honorary grand marshals will be escorted by local National Guard Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 156th Infantry and Bravo Company located in New Iberia. The veterans will ride in a restored military vehicle sponsored by State Rep. Blake Miguez, R-Erath, a Loreauville native and New Iberia businessman.

The CHS Panthers’ coaches, fresh from leading the football team to a state championship, will ride on the city’s vintage fire engine during the parade, as well.

The parade itself was made possible by Musson Patout Automotive, Iberia On Tap Organization and the city of New Iberia. Musson Patout, besides helping underwrite the cost, furnishes all of the official vehicles pulling all floats and supplies drivers.

For more information on the parade, visit the official Bayou Mardi Gras Association Facebook page, website at www.bayoumardigras.com or call the office of Norris International at 367-2844.