Rain Doesn’t Stop the Krewe of Olympia

The Krewe of Olympia rolled through downtown Covington Saturday, Feb. 23 despite the bad weather.

The parade included 300 members including marching bands and dance groups; there were 21 floats. The theme for the Olympia parade was “Olympia’s Bucket List.”

The parade traveled down the streets of downtown Covington. It started on Columbia Street, went down Boston Street, turned onto South Jefferson Street, then West 15th Avenue, took another turn onto South Tyler Street, then West 23rd Avenue, and again went down Boston Street, then back to Columbia Street where it started.

The streets were filled with parade-goers standing in the rain and the cold wind for hours that Saturday night. Many of them stayed longer than others to watch the parade go by twice on Boston Street and Columbia Street.

Cole Leonard, a local resident, mentioned the Olympia parade is his favorite parade out of all of them because it is in his hometown, and he attends with his family every year. They stand in the same spot by Pepe’s restaurant on Columbia to catch the parade twice.

“I think it has rained at this parade for the last two years and that does not stop the fun. We come no matter what,” stated Leonard.

Taylor Krulisky of Madisonville did not enjoy the parade due to the weather. He did not attend last year’s Olympia parade because of the rain and only came this year because his friends begged him to.

“When it rains like this, I would rather stay inside. I don’t like the rain or the cold and it has been like this all night,” Krulisky commented.

Out of all of the school bands that marched in the parade, only one of them wore their actual band uniform due to the weather, which was Covington High School’s Marching Lions. All of the other bands wore a school polo shirt with khaki pants.

Leonard is an alumnus of the Marching Lions and added, “I remember marching in this parade when I was in high school. It rained in two of the Olympia parades that I marched in and we always wore our real uniforms.”

Many of the parade goers danced when there was music playing from floats, dance teams or bands.

“I danced a little bit just to try and make the best out of my time. When you and everyone around you are dancing, it makes it seem like one big party, which is what Mardi Gras should be,” stated Krulisky.

Krulisky was not the only person who danced to the music at Olympia.

“I love to dance with people in the floats. A guy in one of the floats saw me dancing and tried to have a dance battle with me,” mentioned Leonard.

Once the parade was over, parade attendees gathered their things and cleared the streets.