Gulf Shores Fat Tuesday Parade Could Return Under Two-Year Deal With New Krewe Alliance

GULF SHORES, Ala. — The Gulf Shores Fat Tuesday parade, a Mardi Gras tradition the city has staged for most of the past 47 years, may keep rolling after all. A newly formed carnival group has proposed a two-year partnership under which it would learn the ropes alongside city staff and then take over the parade.

The Gulf Shores City Council will discuss the proposal during a public work session at 4 p.m. Monday, Nov. 2, at City Hall. The work session is a non-voting meeting, but the council could take up the agreement for a vote at its regular meeting on Nov. 9.

If approved, the deal would keep a Fat Tuesday parade on the calendar for at least the next two carnival seasons. In 2027, Fat Tuesday falls on Feb. 9.

How the partnership would work

The group behind the proposal is the Krewes & Commerce Parade Alliance, or KCPA. Under the plan outlined by the city’s Director of Recreation and Cultural Affairs, Grant Brown, the city and the alliance would share responsibilities, shifting the load over two years.

“The proposed approach includes a two-year partnership model in which the city leads parade operations in the first year with (Krewes & Commerce Parade Alliance) KCPA assisting and observing, followed by KCPA assuming the lead role in year two with the city providing operational support,” Brown wrote in a memo to the council.

In practical terms, the arrangement would work like this:

• Year one (2027): The city runs parade operations, with the alliance assisting and observing.
• Year two (2028): The alliance takes the lead, with the city providing operational support.
• Long term: The krewe would eventually take over all parade duties from the city.

Staging a parade involves a long list of tasks, from organizing participating krewes and floats to setting the route, coordinating police and public works crews, arranging barricades and cleanup and handling permits and insurance. A training period lets a new organization see that work up close before taking responsibility for it.

Why the parade’s future was in question

Questions about the Fat Tuesday parade surfaced in July, when another new Mardi Gras krewe, the Island Revelers, asked for and received the city’s permission to hold a Saturday night Mardi Gras parade on Jan. 23, 2027.

That request raised the question of whether the city would continue running its own traditional Fat Tuesday parade. City officials said at the time they were not opposed to a Fat Tuesday event, but they wanted an outside group to organize and run it.

“We don’t want to lose Tuesday morning parade,” Mayor Robert Craft said in July. “If there’s another organization that wants to have a parade similar to what these gentlemen have proposed, we welcome them. We’re not killing the Fat Tuesday parade, but we’ve got to come up with a group to handle it.”

The KCPA proposal is the response the city was looking for. In Mobile and across the Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras parades are commonly organized by private krewes and parading societies rather than by local governments, with cities providing permits, police and cleanup. The proposed agreement would move Gulf Shores closer to that model.

Impact fees for new homes on the agenda

The Fat Tuesday proposal is one of several significant items on the Nov. 2 work session agenda.

The council will discuss an ordinance accepting an impact fee study and a proposed fee schedule. According to a memo on the agenda, a recent lawsuit settlement requires the city to “update our impact fee ordinance to include schools, parks and transportation projects.”

Impact fees are one-time charges on new construction meant to help pay for the added demand that growth places on public facilities. A graph included with the agenda shows proposed fees for new single-family homes ranging from $4,831 for homes of 1,000 square feet or less to $15,326 for homes of 4,000 square feet or more.

City may take over the Gulf Shores Sports Center

The council will also discuss taking over operations of the Gulf Shores Sports Center at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.

“The private operator’s original business model did not generate sufficient revenue to sustain the facility,” a memo on the agenda states. “Gulf Shores proposes assuming operation of the complex and converting it into a fully city-owned and city-managed recreation facility.”

The Sportsplex is the city’s main athletic complex and regularly hosts youth, high school and college events, which have become an important part of the area’s sports tourism.

Other items up for discussion

Council members will also review:

• Hazard mitigation plan: Adoption of the 2026 Baldwin County hazard mitigation plan, which must be updated every five years under Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements. Adopting the plan keeps the city in compliance with federal law and eligible for certain mitigation funding.
• Budget amendment: An amendment to the 2026 budget reflecting a $4.2 million increase in revenue, bringing the total to $220.2 million.
• Fiber franchise: A franchise for Gigapower to operate and maintain a fiber-optic system in Gulf Shores.
• Hurricane purchase: Approval of an emergency purchase of decals during Hurricane Isaias, at a cost of $39,488.
• Street name change: Renaming Landward Drive South to Saturn Drive. The street is north of West 36th Avenue and west of State Route 59.

What happens next

Because the Nov. 2 meeting is a work session, no final votes will be taken. Work sessions give council members a chance to ask questions of staff and discuss proposals in public before they appear on a voting agenda.

The council could vote on the Fat Tuesday partnership and other items at its regular meeting on Nov. 9. Residents who want to weigh in can attend the meetings at Gulf Shores City Hall or contact their council members.

If the agreement is approved, parade-goers would see two Mardi Gras parades in Gulf Shores in the 2027 season: the Island Revelers’ Saturday night parade on Jan. 23 and the Fat Tuesday parade on Feb. 9.