The Krewe of BOO! Parade will roll Saturday, October 22 and local restaurateur Dickie Brennan will reign as the king of the 2022 with New Orleans hip-hop artist Kr3wcial serving as grand marshal. The Krewe of BOO! Parade, which will feature more than 500 riders on 14 floats and more than 35 marching, dancing and riding krewes, begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Marigny and rolls through the French Quarter to the Warehouse District. VIP viewing parties will be held at Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant, Crescent City Brewhouse and the Sheraton.
“Krewe of BOO! has grown from a single parade into a weekend full of events. Krewe of BOO! is the official Halloween parade of New Orleans. It’s no surprise that in a city known for its love of costumes and letting the good times roll, New Orleans is the best place to celebrate Halloween,” said Brian Kern, chief spookster for the parade.
Brennan, owner and managing partner of Dickie Brennan & Company, is a third-generation New Orleans restaurateur of the famed Brennan family. After earning a degree from Loyola University, he studied under Chef Paul Prudhomme at Commander’s Palace, then went to New York and France to gain more experience. Returning to New Orleans, he helped open Palace Café and later opened Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse, Bourbon House, Tableau and Dickie Brennan’s Catering & Events, as well as other local eateries. Among his many accolades, he was inducted into the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s Hall of Fame in 2011.
Emcee, producer, recording engineer and songwriter Kr3wcial, a West Bank native, has been releasing music since 2012. He is part of GLBL WRMNG, a NOLA-centric collective launched by Pell and Nate “Suave” Cameron. In February, Kr3wcial debuted the EP, “Less Than Three,” in a 3D space he designed called the Kr3wniverse.
During New Orleans’ only scheduled event for October, parade festivities will kick off Halloween week. Krewe of BOO! 2022 events start at noon on Friday, Oct. 21 with a Royal Luncheon at House of Blues, followed by a Second Line at 3:00 p.m. at to Pat O’Brien’s for the Krewe of Boo’s Cocktail Happy Hour. The Captain’s Masquerade Ball, to be held at Republic NOLA, will run from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. and feature music by Kr3wcial, beginning at 7:00, followed by Flow Tribe.
On Oct. 22, the traditional two-mile Zombie Run, presented by Splat, will start off Saturday’s events at 9:00 a.m. “Zombie Killers,” the Big Easy Rollergirls of New Orleans’ women’s flat track roller derby, will start and end their run through the Warehouse District at Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant.
The Monster Mash After Party takes place at Generations Hall, with doors opening at 8:00 p.m. The Monster Mash, the official after-party of the Krewe of BOO!, is a ticketed event with costumes required and will feature JT & The Ka-Nection and local DJs.
Krewe of BOO! Route
After a 2019 route change due to the Hard Rock Hotel collapse and a 2020 cancellation because of COVID-19, the parade returned to its normal route for 2021. Participants assemble at Elysian Fields Avenue, parade down Elysian Fields to N. Peters Street, then to Decatur Street past Jackson Square and back to North Peters Street. Turning onto Canal Street, the parade will head to Burgundy, then U-turn back down Canal Street to Tchoupitoulas Street, ending on Andrew Higgins Drive.
Founded in 2007 by Blaine “Mr. Mardi Gras” Kern, the Krewe of BOO! was resurrected in 2013 by his son, Brian Kern. The krewe’s parade is New Orleans’s Official Halloween Parade and features floats by renowned Kern Studios, the premier float building organization in America. Kern’s aim is to “make New Orleans a premier destination on Planet Earth for Halloween.” Krewe sponsors include Monster Energy, Haunted History Tours, Pat O’Brien’s, PJs Coffee, The Mortuary, Oceana Grill, Elmer’s Chee Wees, Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant and Yee-Haw Media. Previous royalty has included former Saints players Bobby Hebert and Morten Andersen, performer Trixie Minx, WWE superstar Maryse and New Orleans attorney Stephen Rue.
The krewe specifically seeks to reduce parade waste that ends up in landfills by primarily throwing New Orleans-made food items and local collectible objects that parade goers will want to consume or keep as mementos. Throws will include items from PJ’s Coffee, Elmer’s CheeWees, MoonPie Minis from Chattanooga Bakery, Aunt Sally’s Pralinettes and cups from Giacona Container Corporation.
The Krewe of BOO! also sponsors the Halfway to Halloween Dance Off, a dance competition between marching krewes and a free concert, held each summer. In 2022, the krewe co-sponsored the Axeman’s Ball, a live concert with Prohibition Era-style costumes.
Fore more information, visit the krewe website here.
