Maine weather may not be conducive to skimpy Mardi Gras costumes and all-night street parties, but that hasn’t stopped locals from importing some Cajun heat and Carnival atmosphere to the Pine Tree State.

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is next week, and if you’re considering hosting your own Mardi Gras bash, experts say it’s a fairly straightforward party to plan.

According to Richard Martin, program director for the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston, a successful Mardi Gras event includes three main elements: “Food, music and color.”

The food has to be Cajun, the music likewise (or Zydeco, blues, jazz or even rock), and the colors must be gold, purple and green.

Martin has experience as a Mardi Gras party planner, since this will be the third year the Franco-American Heritage Center has hosted a party ahead of the Catholic and Episcopal season of Lent, which runs from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday.

The center’s party takes place Saturday night and features a New Orleans-style feast, music by The Blues Buzzards and masks all around.

“We encourage dressing in festive and fanciful colors,” Martin said. “Most of the patrons are masked.”

Along with the masks, the other required party favor is beads. These strings of plastic beads — which are thrown from parade floats in New Orleans to revelers willing to do almost anything to get them — also make great prizes and Mardi Gras decorations.

Another decor idea, which Lynne Cousins, co-owner of One Stop Party Shoppe in South Portland, gleaned from a recent trip to the Big Easy, is to re-create the vibe of the French Quarter in your own home or party venue by setting up sidewalk-style cafe tables and lanterns. One Stop Party Shoppe even rents portable street lamps should you want to give your Bourbon Street scene a more realistic look.

Cousins said the store does a busy trade at this time of year in beads and masks. But the approach of Mardi Gras also increases sales for feather boas, hats, temporary tattoos and bow ties — all excellent ideas for Mardi Gras attire.

“The more sequins or the more glitter, the better,” Cousins said.

According to Cousins, most of the accessories are snatched up by people headed out to the bars in the Old Port, with the rest purchased by folks hosting their own Mardi Gras bashes.

One party planner stocking up on beads and masks is Amy Safford, who heads development for the Biddeford-based Community Partners Inc. The nonprofit is getting ready to host its second Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball.

“We sold out last year, so we decided to move it to a bigger place,” said Safford.

That bigger space is the Masonic Temple in Portland, which can accommodate 200 people for a seated dinner.

Whether you plan a seated dinner or simple hors d’oeuvres, the food at your Mardi Gras party must have a Cajun flair. Traditional dishes such as gumbo, jambalaya and dirty rice are good choices.

But when it comes to dessert, there’s really only one option: a king cake. These pastries resemble cinnamon rolls more than cakes and are always decorated in green, gold and purple sprinkles or frosting.

Baked inside (or placed underneath) the cake is a plastic baby or pecan half. New Orleans custom dictates that the guest who gets the baby will be blessed with good luck. He or she also becomes responsible for serving up the king cake next year.

To wash down all this tasty nosh, be sure to serve Hurricanes, the signature drink of New Orleans. These easy-to-make cocktails should be mixed from equal parts dark and light rum with passion fruit juice, lime juice and simple syrup for flavoring.

In addition to serving up the proper music, food and party favors, Safford said it’s important to give your gathering a more frolicking feel than a standard cocktail mixer.

“At home, you could maybe hire a jester,” Safford said. “We’ve hired the Dark Follies to perform, and they’re like roaming vaudeville performers. They were a great addition last year.”

Because Mardi Gras celebrates the breaking of social conventions, it’s also possible to host your Mardi Gras party during the season of Lent. This is exactly what Community Partners will do by holding its party on March 3.

Safford explains that they decided to stick with the first weekend of March because the weekend before Mardi Gras falls on school vacation week this year, and many of their supporters will be away.

“Because we’re so far from New Orleans,” Safford said, “I think we can get away with it.”

Staff Writer Avery Yale Kamila can be contacted at 791-6297 or at:

akamila@pressherald.com

Twitter: AveryYaleKamila

 

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