ST. LOUIS — As the annual grand parade returns to the streets of Soulard this Saturday! But with all of this party planning and celebrating, you might be asking yourself how did St. Louis became the home of one of the largest Mardi Gras celebrations in the country?
"A lot of people think that Mardi Gras here is the result of our French heritage or something. That has nothing to do with anything related to how Mardi Gras got started," explains Mack Bradley, president of the Mardi Gras Foundation.
It actually started on a chilly day when five pals met for a drink at 1017 Russell Boulevard and they decided this Midwest winter could use a party. Bob Brinkmann, Hilary Clements, James Rabbitt, Bill Stubbs and Bill Coleman each threw in 250 dollars to throw the first ever Soulard Mardi Gras.
"And we did not realize what we had started," said Bob Brinkmann, the last living member of the five founders.
43 years later, what started as a house party with a few hundred people now includes more than a month of events and an estimated 750,000 people from all over the country.
The grassroots event outgrew its beginnings in the middle of the 1990s, thanks to wonderful weather three years in a row. This lead to the inception of the Mardi Gras Foundation in 1999 and a new found support from St. Louis.
"As we sit here today, Mardi Gras generates more than $20 million a year for the local economy. And at least a third of that money comes from outside the region," said Bradley.
Not a bad record for a party that started with five guys and 250 bucks a piece.