The Mardi Gras season is upon Southwest Louisiana once again.

The Twelfth Night Parade Extravaganza at the Lake Charles Events Center is set to usher in the colorful 2024 Mardi Gras season Saturday night.

The splashy indoor parade — set to begin at 7 p.m. — will feature members of the Krewe of Krewes under the direction of Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana.

Twelfth Night — 12 days after Christmas — commemorates the official beginning of the highly-anticipated Carnival season, said Rebecca Moss, secretary of Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana.

Following tradition, Mardi Gras royalty of last year wave their symbolic good-byes to parade attendees as a way to greet the new season, Moss said.

“This is our final promenade to showcase their costumes along with our Mardi Gras Southwest royalty,” Moss said.

Many of the costumes that will be featured by the 60 krewes appearing during Saturday’s festivities will then be displayed in the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu.

General admission to the event is $10 and attendees who find one of the 12 tiny plastic babies hidden inside their slices of king cake will win lavish prizes from local businesses.

“Something new we’ve added this year is if a young child up to 10 years old brings a canned good with them they will be crowned as well as given a picture opportunity with the Mardi Gras Southwest Queen,” Moss said.”All of those canned goods will be going to Abraham’s Tent. From hurricanes to freezes, this and that, our community really suffered and it’s just another way to give back.”

Moss said Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana is made up solely of volunteers.

“A lot of our board members are made up of one member of each krewe, which gives them a voting privilege, but some of our members aren’t involved with Mardi Gras at all,” she said. “They just like to come out and help the community.”

Later this month, Moss said the organization will be hosting a community dance geared to the special needs community.

“It is a free event and we serve a meal that consists of chili dogs, chips and a cookie or a cupcake,” she said. “There’s also popcorn and soda, a DJ, and we will crown a king and queen. It’s phenomenal to see; they just want to dance and have a good time. They get on the dance floor and they dance the night away.”

The free event is set for 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 25, at the Lake Charles Event Center’s Exhibition Hall.