The Origins of the New Orleans Easter Parade

Down in New Orleans, Easter is celebrated with parades, revelry and magnificent cuisine.  In 1956, Germaine Wells redefined what it meant to wear your “Sunday best” on Easter.

The gem of Arnaud’s Restaurant and the Count’s daughter, Germaine started a New Orleans Easter event fashioned after the Easter parades happening in New York City at the time. Germaine’s New Orleans Easter parade became a holiday tradition.  The parade participants, led by Germaine, dressed in the latest fashions completed by beautiful colorful hats and bonnets.

Horse drawn carriages carried riders from Arnaud’s Restaurant to Jackson Square and back again. Each year was outdone by the next, and it became a New Orleans Easter tradition, continuing until this day as the Historic French Quarter Easter Parade.