@BumbleBeeBoogie,
Will you go to Louisiana for Mardi Gras? No.
What costume will you wear? No chance.
Will you go to parties? I have, but not in Louisiana.
Will you watch a parade? Maybe. I'm not a huge parade fan but have liked a few of them.
Which countries' parades do you enjoy the most? I have no basis for judgement.
I have turned out to be not all that interested in parades or, their opposite, revolutionary gatherings, although they sometimes are the same thing. Not that I am against revolution, but I seem to be not so charmed by drama. Probably that is some circumspection from my early life.
On Rio, naturally I loved the movie, Black Orpheus. I've no idea if I would love it as a Brazilian.
I spent a wonderful evening near to dawn dancing the meringue et al at a Guadalajara extravaganza. I just looked up the spanish word for festa, parte.
I suppose it was.
I'm moderately sick of halloween too, have been for a long time.
On the other hand, I'm hypocritical in that I've interest in the age old festivities and jousts and races in Italy. Maybe I can be that way at a distance, though it's true that much of my interest is in the life happening in piazzas, and by extension, in world plazas, and not in extreme research into the nature of every procession or joust.
George, New Orleans sounds much to me like Siena. Which makes me wonder about my own takes. I figure it means if I lived in italy I'd probably get less enthused. But I had a reason for being enthused, as contradas represent neighborhoods, and fighting in a horse race has some value in contrast to straight out killing.
Prelenten festivities are not the same as a horse race far away, but I see the panoply of letting go as similar.