Krewe of Spanish Town

If you know, you know. If not, head to the eclectic Spanish Town neighborhood on the Saturday before Mardi Gras and see how a parade can take over the entire downtown with its raucous revelry. It's by far the largest parade for miles.

The parade, in all its hot pink glory, is organized by the Mystic Krewe for the Preservation of Lagniappe in Louisiana, dba SPLL, and takes the pink flamingo as its mascot.

All this fun has a philanthropic lining as SPLL has donated more than $1.4 million to local charities from ball, parade and golf tournament proceeds.