Mobile’s Oldest LGBTQ+ Mardi Gras Society Just Won Its Seventh Best-Ball Award, and Members Say They Saw It Coming
Mobile's Order of Osiris, the city's oldest LGBTQ+ Mardi Gras mystical society, has won its seventh Reader's Choice Award for Best Mardi Gras Ball since forming in 1981.
Members of the Order of Osiris, Mobile’s oldest-running LGBTQ+ Mardi Gras mystical society, say they weren’t entirely surprised to learn the organization won this year’s Reader’s Choice Award for Best Mardi Gras Ball — it’s the group’s seventh such win.
Formed in 1981, the Order of Osiris held its first ball in 1982 and has grown into an established fixture of Mobile’s Mardi Gras season, now counting roughly 50 active and associate members. The organization’s annual ball draws thousands of guests each year, built around an elaborate tableau vivant production that runs 90 minutes to two hours, complete with costumes, floats, music, lighting and theatrical props.
The society’s longevity places it among the more established mystical societies in Mobile’s Mardi Gras tradition, a scene built almost entirely around volunteer-run organizations that spend months each year producing elaborate, one-night productions for their members and invited guests.
Mobile’s mystical societies
Mobile’s organized Carnival societies date to 1830, when the Cowbellions de Rakin Society first paraded on New Year’s Eve. The Order of Myths, founded in 1867, is the oldest society still parading. Most of the city’s mystical societies are private, and their balls traditionally open with a tableau, a staged presentation built around the year’s theme.
