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The Intergalactic Krewe Of Chewbacchus Parade in New Orleans

In the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras on Feb. 25, the streets of New Orleans are filled with a series of extravagant parades organized by local krewes.

Saturday night's parade was a glittering, glowing procession of Wookiees, Trekkies, and other self-proclaimed sci-fi geeks and super-nerds: the tenth annual parade of the 

The krewe's name is, as you might guess, an irreverent mashup of 

"That is a huge part of the krewe: mashups, puns and stacking together things that you love," said one of the krewe's captains, Brooke Ethridge, better known as 

Richard Riggs, aka Overlord Strangelover, added: "The mission of the krewe is 'Saving the galaxy one drunken nerd at a time.'"

The week before the parade rolled, the revelers were in the frantic final stages of preparation, sanding, sawing, and sewing in a huge workshop space.

Laura van Aken was hard at work adding extra fur to her costume, or "wookifying" it, as she put it. "We are Chewbacchus, so gotta have a Chewie in there," she said.

Her costume combined elements of Chewbacca with characters from the cult classic, 

"It's truly just a free-for-all," van Aken said. "You can do whatever you can dream up, costume-wise. Just make it happen, show up, and strut your stuff!"

When the krewe was formed 10 years ago, it focused on classic sci-fi – 

. But over the years, the boundaries loosened, in a big way.

"We say now, all nerddoms," Ethridge explained. "So anything that you want to nerd about is welcome in the Chewbacchus parade."

Which means there's a sub-krewe in the Chewbacchus parade for just about anybody. Among them:

"Being an ultimate trailblazer, everything about her is futuristic," explained AfroFuturist Krewe member Michele Seymour.

," added fellow krewe member Pearl Ricks, "and the whole idea of AfroFuturism is to create a world that is beyond what we already have."

One of the newest sub-krewes is the Women of Wakanda: those 

. Member Sonita Singh, who marched on Saturday in a glow-in-the-dark bustier and loincloth, described the thrill of the parade: "Beautiful, powerful, sovereign black women coming down the streets, screaming 'Wakanda forever!' Chills. I get chills just thinking about it."

The Krewe of Chewbacchus is a walking krewe, which means there are no people riding on huge floats pulled by trucks and tractors.

" — wildly elaborate hand-made structures that are pushed or pedaled on tricycles, shopping carts, rickshaws, or whatever can roll.

The krewe has constructed an alien in a gigantic spaceship, hovering over a scale model of New Orleans.

And of course, there's the krewe's idol: Chewbacchus, a six-armed Wookiee made of Styrofoam. This year, he was sculpted in full roar, perched on top of the starship Millennium Falcon.

"Chewbacchus is the Sacred Drunken Wookie who we worship," said Overlord Strangelover, Richard Riggs. "He is our godhead."

Another distinctive feature of this krewe is that all of the throws they toss to the crowds are 

. No cheap, plastic Mardi Gras beads for this bunch; instead, they take great pride in creating miniature works of art that have become coveted collectors' items. Among the many offerings this year: Wakanda earrings, tiny Yoda finger puppets, delicately painted bandolier blocks, and sparkly, bejeweled ray guns.

"There's this exchange and this moment that's extremely personal that you don't get when you're just throwing beads off of a float," said Aryanna Gamble, Overlord Space Goddess Snackagawea.

"Outside of New Orleans, there's this perception that Mardi Gras is booze and Bourbon Street and boobs," Gamble said. "The reality that all of us know is that Mardi Gras is made in dens and living rooms and garages across the city. It's for all of us, and it's made by us. It's a community builder." 

Arts and Culture

Melissa Block

Author

In New Orleans, arguably the most far-out pre-Mardi Gras parade is staged by the Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus. "Anything that you want to nerd about is welcome in the Chewbacchus parade," says one of the krewe's captains, Brooke Ethridge.

Photos: The Intergalactic Krewe Of Chewbacchus parades in New Orleans

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