As the sun was beginning to set on Fat Tuesday, it was 54 degrees in Florida’s Friendliest Hometown and 55 degrees in the Big Easy.
But suffice to say, crowds in both towns were warming up in anticipation of a raucous night.
Watch video of this year’s Mardi Gras event at Lake Sumter Landing:
Villagers Julie Wheeler, Paula Janusek, Joe Buckovic, Rich Bettis and Cindy Bettis, had claimed their table at Lake Sumter Landing Market Square and were appropriately decked out for the Mardi Gras celebration.
“How can you not have a good time on Mardi Gras in The Villages?” asked Wheeler of the Village of St. Charles.
It was a sentiment echoed by Claudia Jones of the Village of Briar Meadow who posed with the stiltwalkers, appropriately dressed in Mardi Gras colors.
“My friend is in France,” Jones said. “But she has been messaging me, wanting to know how we’re celebrating Mardi Gras here.”
The Mardi Gras celebration got an early revving up when the Villages Cheerleaders took over the dance floor.
The Villages Cheerleaders’ longtime leader Gerry Lynch led the girls through their routines and at the appropriate moment they reached for their umbrellas and delighted the crowd with their version of “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Lynn Griebahn of the Village of Del Mar proudly wore his homemade Mardi Gras mask.
“Better to be here than on Bourbon Street,” he declared.
