Asbury Park Mardi Gras Events 2019

Did we have fun at the Asbury Park Mardi Gras events?
You bet we did!

Our 4th Annual Asbury Park Mardi Gras was held on Saturday, February 23rd.  What a blast! We had lots of Mardi Gras events going on around the downtown. Here’s the full report:

MASK MAKING:

Everyone loves our yearly mask making project.  We’ve got no age limit! We give them an undecorated mask, then send them to 14 businesses in downtown Asbury Park to get free items to apply to their masks. Creativity is unleashed! You can vote for your favorite masks on our contest page until March 5th. We got a special treat this year, when Crust and Crumble Pizzeria and Bakery brought over a big pot of gumbo for the mask makers to sample.

MARDI GRAS HAPPY HOUR:

Taka Restaurant came up with another creative menu for our Mardi Gras happy hour: Japanese style jambalaya with crawfish, chicken, edamame and enoki mushrooms; New Orleans style steam buns with andouille sausage; and togarashi shrimp with miso grits.  Plus special cocktails! The bar area was filled with costumed revelers, fueling up before our masquerade ball.

THE MASQUERADE BALL:

This year’s ball was held at Asbury Park’s funkiest club, the Saint. The VooDUDES kept the crowd dancing for hours.  People went all out on their costumes, and the crowd chose our king and queen of the ball.  Our queen was Debbie from Middletown.  Our king, Wolf, came all the way from Harrisburg, VA for the party.

Thanks to the merchants of Asbury Park for the prize packages and mask decorations, and the Asbury Park Chamber of Commerce for their help! And a big thanks to everyone who supports and loves this event–see you next year!