We may be far up north from the festivities down in St. Louise, but that does not mean we do not have a celebration of our own. In fact, a mere 40 minutes further north (gasp) we have the largest Mardi Gras festival on the Northern East Coast. In fact, from February 28 until today, March 2, Burlington can expect over 25,000 to pack Church Street with excitement and bravado.

Nineteen years ago this February, the Magic Hat Brewing Company had a crazy idea: to gather the city of Burlington, VT together for a Mardi Gras-themed celebration to benefit a local non-profit. The only catch was that the Vermont brewer had to figure out how to get Burlingtonians outside for several hours in the middle of winter’s coldest, most unforgiving month of February. After countless hours of asking local businesses to participate with a float, working with the city of Burlington, the police department, the fire department and many more organizations, the parade was ready to go, but the question remained: Would anyone actually show up?

Yes! Quite a ton of people, and more than a few Middkids as well! The parade was this past Saturday and what an incredible day it was. A bunch of friends and I drove up in a caravan of cars, carpooling each one to the legal limit of course, and made our way to Burlington late morning. It was lunch time so we made a point to stop at Chipotle. Pause and enjoy this moment please because I sure did. Moment of pause for Chipotle. Great, thank you.

Once arriving we found parking and joined the purple, green, and bead-clad crowd. While things might not be as wild as St. Louise, there is no lack of enthusiasm.

All profits raised throughout the weekend go towards HOPE Works, a Vermont based charity dedicated to ending all forms of sexual violence. The Magic Hat Mardi Gras weekend is HOPE Works’ largest fundraiser, having raised more than $215,000 over the years.

Great Day. Great Cause. Great Friends. Great Memories. Great Food.

(we stopped at chipotle on the way home for dinner, too)