[Updated 11:00a.m., August 23, 2012]
OffBeat was just informed that this year’s parade will not follow the traditional pub crawl route. Rather, after setting out from Maple Leaf headquarters, the golf cart flotilla will lead its faithful followers to a gathering at Palmer Park, which is located at the intersection of Carrollton and Claiborne Avenues.

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It may not be carnival time yet, but this Saturday (August 25), everybody at the Krewe of O.A.K.’s Mid-Summer Mardi Gras will be having fun. True to its name, the annual Oak Street celebration is arguably the most “outrageous and kinky” event of the year – no easy feat by any stretch of the imagination.

The Krewe of O.A.K.'s Mid-Summer Mardi Gras takes place on Saturday, August 25. Photo Kim Welsh.

According to the Krewe’s Facebook page, on Saturday, the depraved cavalcade will set forth from the Maple Leaf Bar at 7:30p.m. sharp. Like-minded revelers are urged to align outside of or in the near vicinity of the bar. Unlike traditional Mardi Gras parades, the Krewe of O.A.K.’s floats consist of golf carts decorated to coincide with the evening’s theme. This year’s theme: “Motorboatin’ on Oak.”

Shocking costumes and shameless antics are welcomed and encouraged along the mile-and-a-half parade route, which ambles through Carrollton neighborhood, stops off at several watering holes along the way, and concludes where it began several hours later.

Following the evening’s festivities the “Mid-Summer Carnival Ball” takes place at the Maple Leaf. The event is closed to the public; however, tickets to the scandalous soiree can be procured from krewe members. As far as what it will take to score entry into the secretive shindig, perhaps the night’s theme can provide a clue.