Wordi Gras celebration this Saturday

On Saturday, Feb. 26, Worden, will host the 15th annual Wordi Gras celebration and parade. Last year’s event would have been its 15th year; however, due to COVID in 2021, the event was postponed.

Wordi Gras is Worden's redneck take on Mardi Gras. The parade will kick off at 3 p.m. and run on Wall Street from Park Street to Drummond Street.

The Wordi Gras Parade is an all-ages event. Food and merchandise vendors will be located on Wall Street and will feature fare ranging from barbecue to Cajun. Food and other vendors will start serving around 11 a.m. and service will continue throughout the day. Yellow Dog Café and Bar and the Worden American Legion will both have live music throughout the day.

After the parade the Yellow Dog and the Worden American Legion will continue the fun for those 21 and over. Each establishment will have live music/DJs under the tents into the evening.

Anyone interested in entering a float in the parade

is being asked to begin lining up at 2 p.m. on Sawmill Road, located near the five-way stop. There will be signs and volunteers assisting from there. No registration is required to enter a float in the parade.

Those with questions about entering a float or about the event, please send a message to the Wordi Gras Facebook page.

WordiGrasstartedwhenagroupoffriendsweresitting around playing cards after having to cancel their planned trip to St. Louis Mardi Gras due to weather. At around 3 p.m. that day they realized they had a bunch of beads that they were not going to be able to use. They came up with the idea that they could have their own parade, so they called both bars in town and told them to send everyone outside to watch the parade.

The parade consisted of one red truck and the group of friends blaring music and throwing beads from the truck. They continued to ‘celebrate’ at the local bars throughout the night. They had such a blast the first year they decided

to do the same the next year, but this time expanding the parade to include another truck.

The third year was when the parade and crowd started to get big. They put out a press release inviting others to participate in the parade and invited more people to celebrate the redneck-themed Mardi Gras.

They ended up having between 15 and 20 floats that third year and the event has grown ever since. More floats participate in the parade each year and the crowd to celebrate Wordi Gras keeps getting larger.

They have had a wide array of floats ranging from fire trucks to having the Coffin Carriers Club enter their hearses and caskets. They have had buses that bring groups of people from two to three hours away for the event. They have even had people bring their RVs down the night before and participate in what they call Wordigating.

All in all, Wordi Gras is about a group of people want- ing to come out and have a great time with great people.