When I was a kid my family used to send a portion of the Mardi Gras beads we scored every year to our cousins in the Northeast. Apparently these plastic trinkets were something of a curiosity to them, seeing as they didn’t at least appear to grow on trees in Boston or Buffalo. I imagine most Louisiana families have their own preferred methods of dispensing with Mardi Gras beads, even if that method is storing them in a closet for the rest of eternity.

While the value of Mardi Gras beads has remained at a steady “almost nothing” for many decades, it looks like the folks at Crown Royal plan to shake up the market this Carnival season. The New Orleans Advocate reports that the Canadian whiskey brand will host a pop-up Mardi Gras bead exchange at the corner of Canal and South Peters (outside Harrah’s) from February 23-26. Patrons, who must be 21+, will receive a free Gambino’s king cake if they donate three or more pounds of Mardi Gras beads.

Most of the donated beads will be given to Arc of New Orleans, a nonprofit that runs a year round bead recycling campaign. The organization uses them to create jobs for people with mental disabilities, who sort and sack the beads so they can be resold to local krewes.

Additional beads will be given to artist Stephan Wanger, who creates large murals with them as part of his Bead Town project. Wanger also is among the special guests who will appear at the pop up this weekend. Other guests include beloved former Saints running back Deuce McAllister (Saturday from 4pm to 6pm) and country music artist Dylan Scott (Friday).

The pop up will be open from 4pm to 8pm on Thursday and Friday, and 2pm to 8pm on Saturday and Sunday.