The holidays have come and gone. Now, New Orleans can start gearing up for a real celebration.
The Phunny Phorty Phellows make their annual appearance this weekend.
Sunday is a very special day here in New Orleans, marking the officials start of Carnival Season 2019.
"It's 12th Night, it's January 6th, and the Phunny Phorty Phellows will ride the rails of the historic St. Charles Avenue Streetcar."
Phellows Captain, Peggy Scott Laborde, says the Heralds of Carnival will take to the streetcar line at 7pm from South Carrollton and go the entire route down St. Charles to Canal and back to the Willow Street barn.
"Everybody will be costumed," says Laborde. "And our costumes satirically reflect the topics of the day."
The krewe's throws are pretty prized possessions, since there aren't a lot of them.
"We have magnets with the Phunny Phorty Phellows logo, coasters and just little tokens. You know, we're not mass quantity."
But, she says they have mass amounts of fun.
"We are so pleased to be riding through uptown New Orleans," says Laborde. "Bouncing to the rhythm of the Storyville Stompers, we'll traverse a route that is the route of many Mardi Gras parades, so it's only fitting that we blaze the trail with our ride. We are also grateful to the Regional Transit Authority for their cooperation."
It'll be a long Carnival Season this year, as we'll have to wait a while before Mardi Gras finally arrives.
"It's a little late this year. It's March the 5th. And that's really good news. It means there's more time to eat and celebrate."
The Phellows are an historic Mardi Gras organization that first took to the streets in 1878 and ceased parading in 1898. The group was revived in 1981. One Carnival historian has referred to the PPP as the "Dessert of Carnival." The krewe's website, PhunnyPhortyPhellows.com, includes a route map.
