GULF SHORES, Ala. — A newly formed Mardi Gras krewe is proposing changes that could reshape how Gulf Shores celebrates Fat Tuesday, including moving the city’s annual parade off its traditional date and onto a Saturday evening.
Gulf Shores has held a Mardi Gras parade for nearly 50 years, a tradition the city shares with its Gulf Coast neighbors, where Mardi Gras season stretches from early January through Fat Tuesday. For the past decade, the city itself has organized and run the event.
City officials now say they are open to handing the parade back to a local krewe. Gulf Shores city spokesman Grant Brown said the city was approached by a group with deep community ties and experience organizing large events and Mardi Gras krewes.
“We have been approached by a group that has good community ties, experience at putting on events, and being part of Mardi Gras krewes, and we think that it is a good option to return this to a local krewe,” Brown said.
That group has organized as the Pleasure Island Revelers, a newly formed krewe led by president Blake Rowell. Rowell said the krewe stepped forward after hearing repeated complaints that the city’s parade had grown smaller in recent years.
“We approached the city because we saw a need for a better parade, a longer parade,” Rowell said. “We had a lot of feedback from citizens that the parade was dwindling a little bit, and we wanted to jump in and help it.”
Central to the krewe’s pitch is a scheduling change designed to draw more participants: moving the parade off Fat Tuesday itself and onto a Saturday evening, when more residents and visitors are free to attend and march. The parade route would remain along Highway 59, the coastal corridor that serves as Gulf Shores’ main thoroughfare and hosts many of the city’s biggest public events.
“We are getting really hung up on the tradition being the time and the date, not necessarily the parade itself,” Rowell said. “I think that can be moved and expanded on.”
The timeline for a decision is tight. Fat Tuesday falls on Feb. 9, 2027, and if the city council signs off on the proposal, the Pleasure Island Revelers plan to roll their Mardi Gras parade on Saturday, Jan. 23, 2027, more than two weeks ahead of the traditional date.
“This is a way to serve our community and improve something that is really near and dear to a lot of us in this krewe,” Rowell said.
The proposal is scheduled for discussion at Monday’s Gulf Shores City Council meeting. Before the regular meeting, the city will hold a community input session at 2:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, giving residents a chance to weigh in before council members take up the item.