Entertainment
Mardi Gras’ Fat Tuesday Revelry Kicks Off
Revelers play brass band music as they begin the march of the Society of Saint Anne Mardi Gras parade, on Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. Revelers in glitzy costumes filled the streets of New Orleans for the annual fat Tuesday bash, opening a day of partying, parades and good-natured jostling for beads and trinkets tossed from passing floats. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
NEW ORLEANS (CBS News) — Revelers in evening gowns and tuxedoes danced into the wee hours Tuesday at glitzy balls, kicking off the annual Mardi Gras bash that spills costumed merrymakers into the streets of New Orleans for partying, parades and trinkets tossed from floats.
CBS New Orleans affiliate WWL-TV says the city is set for the traditional fun.
Al Johnson, singer of the catchy Mardi Gras tune “Carnival Time,” served as grand marshal of the Red Beans and Rice foot parade, a Monday prelude to the all-out revelry known as “Fat Tuesday.” He also joined in eating spicy traditional fare of red beans and rice before attending the Orpheus Ball, one of several as the partying began in this Mississippi River port.
Johnson told The Associated Press his catchy song – now synonymous with the annual Carnival seasons – got its inspiration from the Lower 9th Ward, a New Orleans district devastated by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. “It all started down there,” he said of the Louisiana neighborhood where levees broke and surging stormwaters splintered wooden homes. But after Katrina, he said, “Life is going on.”
Celebrities and celebrity watchers are also around at Mardi Gras and this year was no exception.
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Black History
Jackie Wright Champions Bay Area Stories, Filmmakers and Cultural Institutions
As an award-winning communications professional, Wright has worked with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, artists, and community organizations. In 2026, she expanded that work by launching an introductory public relations class for small businesses and nonprofits, offering practical tools for gaining visibility, shaping messages and building productive relationships with the media.
Jackie Wright has spent more than two decades helping people, organizations and communities understand the power of a well-told story.
As founder and president of Wright Enterprises, a San Francisco-based strategic communications and public affairs firm, Wright has built a career spanning journalism, public relations, media relations, crisis communications, community engagement and multimedia storytelling.
As an award-winning communications professional, Wright has worked with corporations, nonprofits, government agencies, educational institutions, artists, and community organizations. In 2026, she expanded that work by launching an introductory public relations class for small businesses and nonprofits, offering practical tools for gaining visibility, shaping messages and building productive relationships with the media.
Wright’s commitment to storytelling is also deeply personal. She wrote and co-directed the 15-minute documentary, “Love Separated in Life…Love Reunited in Honor,” which chronicles the story of her parents, Specialist Five (S5 Wyley Wright Jr. and Ouida Fay McClendon Wright. Her father, a U.S. Army helicopter crew chief, died in Vietnam in 1964 while serving as an honor guard during a visit by then-Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Decades later, Wright and her siblings had their father exhumed from a segregated cemetery in Jacksonville, Florida, and their mother moved from her burial place in Georgia so the couple could be reunited at Arlington National Cemetery in 2014.
The family journey later took Wright and her sister to Vietnam, where they discovered the former military compound that had been named in honor of their father and another fallen soldier. The documentary, centered on love, war, family, racial understanding, and remembrance, earned festival recognition at screenings.
“It was quite an honor to learn about my family’s history and share it on film,” said Wright.
That filmmaking experience complements Wright’s longstanding advocacy for independent cinema. She has served as a media partner and brand ambassador for Bay Area film festivals, including the San Francisco Black Film Festival, Oakland International Film Festival, and the Durban International Film Festival in South Africa.
“It’s important to help filmmakers and underrepresented stories reach broader audiences,” said Wright.
Whether promoting a neighborhood organization, championing an independent filmmaker or preserving her own family history, Wright has remained consistent. Through Wright Enterprises, she has turned communications into both a profession and a form of community service, telling stories that might otherwise go unheard.
“Our stories are an integral part of our history, and our history is not only American history, but worldwide,” she said.
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