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31st Annual
Mardi Paws Parade
2025
DON'T MISS IT!
Downtown Covington
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Parade rolls at 2pm
Registration at 12:30pm
Downtown Covington
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Parade rolls at 2pm
Registration at 12:30pm
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Parade rolls at 2pm
Registration at 12:30pm
Get Ready to Play: Mardi Paws 2025 is Taking the Game to the Streets! 🎮 🐾
👾 Roll the Dice, Shuffle the Cards, and Lace Up those Sneakers! Mardi Paws is leveling up with our thrilling theme for 2025: "Mardi Paws Gets in the Game!" 🎲🏀
🕹️ Join us for a paw-some parade celebrating all things game-related – from classic board games to heart-pounding video games, and even the spirit of athletic competitions! 🚴♂️🃏
🎭 Unleash your inner gamer and let the good times roll down the streets with dazzling floats, colorful costumes, and a festive atmosphere that's sure to score a perfect 10! 🌟 🕺
🎉 Mark your calendars, grab your joystick, and save the date (Sunday, March 9, 2025) for a Mardi Paws experience like never before – where every step is a move in the game of fun! 🎊 🐶
👑 Let the games begin at Mardi Paws 2025 – Where the streets are our game board, and the parade is the ultimate play! 🎭 🎲
Downtown Covington Route:
PARADE REGISTRATION/ START GPS:
212 E Kirkland St, Covington, LA 70433
PARADE END/POST PARADE PAWTY
COVINGTON TRAILHEAD GPS:
419 N New Hampshire St, Covington, LA 70433
Mardi Paws rolls in Covington, LASunday, February 18, 2024
rain date Feb. 252:00pm
Mardi Paws rolls in Covington, LA
Sunday, February 18, 2024
rain date Feb. 25
2:00pm
Whether you're paw-ticipating in the parade, or just coming out to watch... Historic Downtown Covington is not only charming, but offers so much MORE parking and accessibility than our previous location, we have had nothing but rave reviews since we moved in 2020!
Parade Participants
- Lots of parking close to Registration area
- Walk the "loop" route so you finish near parade's end at the Trailhead for post parade fun & close to where you parked
Sponsors
- Easy access to your booths and nearby parking!
Parade Watchers
- Lots of parking all around the route, and it's easy to walk over to the Covington Trailhead for all the fun before and after the parade!
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Didn't Mardi Paws parade on the Mandeville Lakefront in the past?
Yes, we paraded for almost 25 years on the lakefront until 2020 when circumstances forced us to find a new location, and we found the dream town of Covington.
Why did you move to Covington?
The very limited parking available in heavily residential Old Mandeville, coupled with the fact the route was linear (not a loop), started affecting parade participation. But certainly not parade watchers.
When you parade in a location for almost 25 years, and you do your best to put on a good parade, it's safe to say the crowds of parade watchers keep getting bigger. We had tens of thousands of parade watchers each year, and we continually butted heads with the Mandeville Mayor who wanted us to keep extending our "walking" parade further and further to accomodate establishments and more parade watchers.
As it was, the parade participants had to park up to a half mile away from the parade start. Then they had to walk almost a mile until parade's end with dogs, kids, hauling wagons and throws, all in hot costumes. Once they reached the parade's end, they had to turn around and walk all the way back to the beginning, and then to their car. This wasn't only hard on the humans, but the pups too! We started losing participants, and we didn't think "lengthening" the route was the answer. And we were told our suggestion of making a "loop" route in Old Mandeville was impossible.
In 2019, we were given an ultimatum by Mandeville Mayor Villere to either lengthen our route to what he wanted or he would not allow our parade permit to go in front of the city council. With the future of our parade at stake, because without participants you don't have a parade, we did not agree to lengthen our route and the Mayor did not allow our parade application to go before the council, which put us on the hunt for a new location.
Is Covington better for logistics and parking?
Yes, yes, and YES! Our parade is always held on the Sunday after Fat Tuesday and the Covington downtown area has lots and lots of parking on the weekend.
And with us able to accomodate a "loop" parade route, participants can park close to the beginning, and then finish very near where they parked.
Why have two dog parades in the same area on the same weekend?
We've asked that same question. Mardi Paws has paraded on the Sunday after Fat Tuesday for almost 25 years. Very few participants, sponsors, or even the media, want to do events back to back on the same weekend.
The northshore is big enough to support another dog parade, but it continues to cause confusion when both parades within ten miles of each other are on the same weekend. Our non-profit asked the current Mandeville Mayor Madden for his help to avoid a date causing confusion and competition to a group of volunteers trying to make a difference in their community helping people and pets, but they chose to stay on the same weekend.
Can a "rescue" dog participate in the parade?
Absolutely! We're not sure how that rumor started, but we have hundreds of "rescue" dogs participating in the parade each year. Our non-profit Scott's Wish dedicates countless hours and funds helping shelter animals find forever homes, we just don't have dogs up for adoption at the parade itself.
Why don't you have dogs up for adoption at the parade?
For the first 15 or so years of the parade, we allowed any animal rescue that wanted to participate and bring out animals for adoption to join in on our fundraiser for FREE, but as crowds grew to the tens of thousands, and a child was bitten by a dog up for adoption, we realized this setting was not fair to these dogs or conducive to them finding their forever homes. Imagine yourself in a pen amidst these chaotic conditions where children are running around unattended, there's yelling, screaming, hats on heads, you name it, and then when you bite, you are blamed for it. On top of that, you've got people enjoying a little hair of the dog which could contribute to impulse adopting. We hope you can understand our position.
So Thankful to our 2024 Presenting Parade Sponsor!
So Thankful to our 2024 Presenting Parade Sponsor!
So Thankful to our 2024 Presenting Sponsor-Reviewing Stand!
So Thankful to our 2024 Presenting Sponsor-Reviewing Stand!