WYES-TV will premiere a new documentary, Blaine Kern: They Call Him Mr. Mardi Gras, chronicling the life story of the legendary float builder. Kern, who died in 2020 at age 93, almost single-handedly transformed Mardi Gras from a series of small exclusive parades into a billion dollar a year tourism juggernaut. Produced and narrated by Dennis Woltering, the documentary will premier on Monday, February 7, at 8 p.m.
The float-building business Kern established 75 years ago opened Carnival to people of all races and backgrounds and continues to build spectacular parades for krewes and clients in New Orleans and around the world.
The program will repeat Sunday, February 13, at 10 a.m.; Monday, February 14, at 9 p.m.; Saturday, February 19. at 7 p.m.; Saturday, February 26 at 10 p.m. and Sunday, February 27, at 3:30 p.m.
The PBS affiliate will also present new and nostalgic Mardi Gras programming throughout the month of February leading up to Fat Tuesday, which falls on March 1 this year.
Continuing their annual overview of the upcoming Carnival season, host Peggy Scott Laborde, along with Carnival historians Arthur Hardy and Errol Laborde will join together for another revealing installment of Steppin’ Out: It’s Carnival Time on Thursday, February 10, at 7:30 p.m. Topics in the 2022 edition include the 150th anniversary of the Rex Organization, the 35th anniversary of Lundi Gras celebrations along the riverfront and the ever-growing popularity of house floats that first appeared in 2021 as a response to COVID-19 restrictions that prohibited traditional parades.
For the 25th year, WYES will again provide exclusive live coverage of the Rex Ball in its entirety, along with the historic Meeting of the Courts of Rex and the Mistick Krewe of Comus. Both Carnival balls will return after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. Special features will highlight the history of both krewes. The program will premiere at 7 p.m, on Tuesday, March 1.
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In an effort to expand WYES audiences on the station’s Facebook and YouTube channel, every Tuesday through Mardi Gras, WYES will release a Carnival Close-Up with Peggy Scott Laborde online exclusive. Each segment will highlight some of Laborde’s favorite pieces from her collection of Mardi Gras memorabilia, with slices of Carnival history.
WYES will also bring viewers such Carnival classic programs as New Orleans Parades from the Past, From the Ground Up: Mardi Gras Floats, Big Chiefs of Carnival: The Spirit Leads My Needle and more. A marathon of nine hours of WYES Mardi Gras programming will begin on Saturday, February 19, starting at 3 p.m. and continuing until midnight.
All of the above programs mentioned will repeat throughout the month of February. For all Carnival program details and for each week’s “Carnival Close-Up with Peggy Scott Laborde,” visit wyes.org/mardigras.
