The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus returned for its 10th annual Mardi Gras parade on Saturday, February 1, 2020. The Krewe debuted a new route, rolling through the Bywater, Marigny, and for the first time ever, the French Quarter. The Roar of the Wookiee was indeed mighty, with the largest crowds of spectators and participants in the Krewe’s history. The final count included approximately 2,600 marching members in the parade.
The theme, The Roar of the Wookiee, paid homage to Peter Mayhew, Emperor for Eternity who passed away in April 2019. The theme was a direct nod to Mayhew’s Twitter handle, @TheWookieeRoars. Mayhew reigned as royalty for the parade in 2013 and again in 2015, and was canonized as the Cult of the Sacred Drunken Wookiee’s first Holy Being during a ceremony in November 2019.
For the 10th anniversary, the Krewe also rolled out a very special royalty quest. During the 2019 parade, spectators in the crowd were selected and and given one of 42 very special throws from the Chewluminati. Of the 42, a handful figured out the clue and started a year-long adventure quest to become the royalty for the parade. Ultimately, Jessie Senini was named Ruler of Chewbacchus X, Queen Jessie the Intrepid, Breaker of Codes, Protector of the Roar.
The Chewbacchanal featured entertainment by DJ Mannie Fresh, Tristan Dufrene and DJ Nothing, as well as performances by Dead Music Capital Band, and the Brown Coat Brass Band.
The 900-member Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus is a Sci-Fi themed Mardi Gras parade, as well as a self-described satirical space cult. Chewbacchus consists of over 150 distinct subkrewes, each of which pays loving (and sometimes satirical) homage to the full spectrum of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror and everything in between. Chewbacchus is a model of creative collaboration and has grown into a self-sustaining tradition.
The parade consists of roughly 100 contraptions which are either pushed, pedaled, or pulled and are built onto bicycles, homemade trailers, and shopping carts. Chewbacchus believes that green parades are the “Future of Revelry” and does not use internal combustion engines to power floats. The mad scientists who engineer the krewe’s contraptions have found clever ways to build amazing floats that don’t require petroleum products.
The Krewe of Chewbacchus also makes all of its own throws and has created hundreds of elaborately decorated bandoliers, bean bags, Frisbees, stuffed animals, and even developed a method for casting their own custom bead medallions.
