Hosted by the Mysti Krewe of Nimbus and billed as "The Last Mardi Gras Parade on the Planet", this is Portland's own Mardi Gras parade. Our sixth appearance at this event.

Uniform:   DRESS uniform: TBGO polo shirt, black pants/belt, black socks, black shoes. You may substitute appropriate Mardi Gras headgear for the TBGO hat. Purple flashing fedora is encouraged if you have one! Weather is likely to be cool and/or rainy, so add the TBGO letterman jacket if you have one. If you don't have a letterman jacket, best look is to add a black turtleneck beneath the uniform shirt for additional warmth and you'll match great. Alternatively, you can wear the TBGO lightweight jacket or any non-logo plain black jacket; we want to keep everyone comfortable. With any of the above you can add a clear plastic raincoat (optional at your discretion).

Loaner Jackets:   We have a few loaner TBGO letterman jackets available for $5 per event. If you want to rent one for this event, contact Janet Tolopka (janet AT tbgo.org) as soon as possible. YOU MUST PICK UP JACKETS IN ADVANCE; WE CANNOT BRING THEM TO THE PARADE ROUTE. If we don't have enough jackets available or you prefer not to rent one, you can wear the purple polo with black turtleneck underneath and you'll look matched.

Additional garb and decorations:   This is a NIGHT parade, so memorize or make sure you have a light source for your music. Thermal underwear, hand warmers, foot warmers, and similar accouterments may be quite useful if the weather is cold. If it looks rainy, you may want to consider bringing a clear plastic raincoat. If you choose to wear gloves or ear covering during the parade please wear black. (Any color is fine for stuff you wear only before the parade.) This is a Mardi Gras parade, so you are encouraged to add appropriate decorations in purple, gold, and green. Horn decorating and are encouraged! If you have fairy lights and/or the lighted wristbands from the Phoenix parade, here's a great chance to use them again. You may substitute appropriate Mardi Gras headgear for the TBGO hat. Purple flashing fedora is encouraged if you have one!

Meet:   At 6:00 PM along N Humbold St near Victoria Bar, 4835 NE Albina Ave. (map and directions) We are Unit TBD (no info yet). Parade steps off at 7 PM. The stop-and-perform experiment from 2022 has been dropped since it hurt the flow of things, so the event is back to being a standard parade.

Parade Tunes:

1. Fireball
2. Uptown Funk
3. We Like to Party
4. Venus

Performance Area Tune (in case we feel like playing):

• Shut Up and Dance

COVID Notes: Masks are not required. However, you may wish to consider masks in the staging and disband areas.

Parking:   Drop-off for large equipment is available at Neil Kelly, but MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOMEONE WATCHING ANY GEAR YOU DROP OFF. Because of limited parking in the staging area, the organizers suggest parking along the adjacent streets along the parade route.

You can also park near the parade end (near Ecliptic Brewing). In addition to on-street parking, the organizers have obtained permission for parade participants to park at Boise Eliot Elementary School, 620 N Fremont (map and directions), a block or two from the end of the parade route. Carpooling is encouraged since the lot size is modest. Enter the lot from N Fremont St; see map below. We have access to both parking areas, not just the small lot. You may wish to park here and walk to the staging area or arrange a shuttle to the parade start point. If you arrive early enough, a #4 TriMet bus is scheduled to run every 15 minutes from the vicinity of the school to the staging area (see map). The bus runs west on Fremont then turns north on Mississippi; get off at the Alberta St stop. Be sure to check TriMet schedules since the bus may stop running early because of the parade.

Bathrooms: Portapotties are available in the Neil Kelly parking lot and at Ecliptic Brewing at parade end. Neil Kelly Company (804 N Alberta) has generously offered the use of an indoor restroom. Please keep it extra tidy as it will be getting a lot of use.

Food: The organizers are encouraging a street party atmosphere before the parade, with a food truck offering Louisiana fare arriving at the sstaging area at 5:00. They'll have recorded music and encourage socializing and checking out each other's costumes. Victoria Bar may also be planning a party, but that's not coonfirmed. Be mindful of your socializing choices.

Parade Route: Parade heads south on Albina Ave and then Mississippi Ave to end at N Fremont St near Ecliptic Brewing, 825 N Cook St. Parade is approx 0.8 miles long and ends by around 8 PM.

After-Party:   Parade ends at Ecliptic Brewing (825 N Cook St). Bars and restaurants will probably be open post-parade to continue the fun. Again, be mindful of your choices.

Parade Route (click to enlarge)

Interest Poll for Australia / New Zealand November 2023

The successful Phoenix trip leads the Board to believe that the band may be ready to travel again.  With that in mind, we are looking ahead to November 2023 and planning for the long-delayed trip to Australia with optional extension to New Zealand.

Many things have changed since we originally took trip signups in February 2020: COVID of course but also increasing prices for travel (especially air prices) and changing life situations (we're all three years older).  We also have band associates who weren't yet part of the band in 2020 but now have the opportunity to join the trip.  Before going further with planning, we'd like to gauge how many of you have the interest, time, and available cash to make the trip, so we've created a short interest poll (see link below). The poll is only advisory and does NOT commit you to any travel plans. However, we would appreciate your best guess about your likelihood of signing up so that we can decide whether to proceed further with planning.

Below you'll find a brief overview of what the trip would entail.  We don't have good estimates of cost yet, but you'll also find the cost estimates we did in 2020.  However, you should realize that these are just APPROXIMATIONS and may change either up (more expensive everything) or down (New Zealand extension is shorter than the 2020 plans).  You can also use these links to get more detailed information about original plans for the 2020 trip as an example of what 2023 might look like.

• 2020 Trip Details
• 2020 Detailed Australia Itinerary
• 2020 Detailed New Zealand Itinerary

One final reminder: When deciding whether to book this trip it's important that you be in reasonably good health to handle the demands of this trip. You must be able to get on/off the motor coaches in reasonable fashion and there will be some walking. Those not in good health can cause delays each day on the tour and hold things up for the rest of the tour participants. Should you fall in this category you may need to strongly re-evaluate if a trip as such is for you. Alternatively, you may need to bring along someone with you (family or caregiver) to insure you have someone who can assist you each and every day to avoid becoming a burden to other travelers. Getting through airports is yet another area to consider since it entails getting through security and walking long distances to immigration and flight gates. Being aware of these expectations and your limitations, and then making thoughtful choices will ensure that we can provide a great experience for everyone.

2023 Trip Overview

The National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant is the largest single-day parade in the southern hemisphere, the second biggest in the world (behind the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City), and the largest Christmas Parade in the world. It is officially recognised as a "heritage icon" by the National Trust of Australia and a "state institution" by the Government of South Australia. The pageant takes place in the Adelaide city centre, along a 3.35 km (2 mi) route.

In 1896, Mr Edward Waterfield Hayward established the Christmas fantasy world of the 'Magic Cave' to provide a joyful community Christmas experience. Thirty-seven years later during the Great Depression in 1933 the first Christmas Pageant was held to escort Father Christmas to the Magic Cave. 200,000 spectators came to watch that first Pageant, which featured eight floats and four bands and ran for around 40 minutes. The event now thrills over 320,000 excited parade-goers and a television audience with 1,700 volunteers, including some 63 floats, 15 bands, 164 clowns, dancing groups, and walking performers, all culminating in the arrival of Father Christmas.

As noted above, the parade takes place in Adelaide.  In addition to Adelaide we will visit/sightsee in Melbourne and Sydney.  See the 2020 Detailed Australia Itinerary for examples of possible attractions.

An option "prequel extension" to New Zealand is available for those who want to explore a bit of that country.  The New Zealand extension happens BEFORE the Australia part of the trip (this is reversed from the 2020 plan).  Sightseeing in New Zealand may include some or all of Christchurch, Queenstown, Auckland, and the beautiful New Zealand countryside.  See the 2020 Detailed New Zealand Itinerary for examples of possible attractions.

DEPARTURE IF YOU ELECT THE OPTIONAL NEW ZEALAND EXTENSION

Dates:  Depart U.S. November 1, 2023 for New Zealand, arriving NZ November 3 (International Dateline).  6 night tour of New Zealand.  Fly to Adelaide on November 9 and follow AUSTRALIA ITINERARY.

DEPARTURE FOR AUSTRALIA-ONLY TOUR:

Dates:  Depart U.S. November 7, 2023 to Australia, arriving Adelaide November 9 (International Dateline).  Follow AUSTRALIA ITINERARY.

AUSTRALIA ITINERARY:

Parade day is November 11.  On November 12, fly to Melbourne for 2 night stay.  On November 14 fly to Sydney for 3 night stay.  On November 17 depart Australia for U.S., arriving same day (International Dateline).

ESTIMATED PRICE:

Again I should emphasize:  PRICING IS NOT SET, THESE APPROXIMATIONS ARE FROM 2020 PLANS. These estimates are for a performing Band Associate in Double Occupancy accommodations using Economy airfare. 

OTHER TRAVEL OPTIONS:

Yes, you'll be able to do selected pre-or post-trip customization like always.  Yes, you can use air travel miles if appropriate.  Yes, there will be options for business class air travel.  Just assume we'll do sensible things like we have on previous band trips.