Mardi Gras, Chicago style

Was Undergraduate Break Day too short for you to escape to New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro for Carnival? Luckily for all deprived revelers, the Council on University Programming (COUP) is coming to your aid with its annual Mardi Gras celebration this Friday, February 18, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. in Ida Noyes Hall.

Even though the celebration is a week and a half later than the actual Mardi Gras, COUP promises to bring a very New Orleans style event to campus. The menu’s delicacies include king cakes, gumbo, jambalaya, red beans, and Popeye’s fried chicken and biscuits. Cooker Boys, an authentic Mardi Gras band, will attempt to rev the crowd into a frenzy. Partygoers will also be treated to live entertainment from a Michigan Avenue street dancer, jugglers, capoeira dancers, face painters, fake tattoo artists, caricaturists, photographers, and, of course, fortune tellers. 103.5 Kiss FM will also provide some contemporary DJ spins for the music lovers. COUP pledges to distribute traditional Mardi Gras beads and encourages everyone to grab as many as possible throughout the night.During last year’s Mardi Gras celebration, a power supply failure in Ida Noyes put a damper on the party. Members of COUP, while not guaranteeing the same case won’t happen this year, do say that students should expect a little surprise around 10:30 p.m.