Druids
By Arthur Hardy

Comprised of Carnival veterans from several other Orleans Parish parading organizations, the Ancient Druids wanted to fill an empty slot on the parade calendar, providing New Orleanians and visitors with a first-class parade one week before Fat Tuesday. The Ancient Druids was organized in 1998 and is not related to the Mystic Krewe of Druids, whose parades followed the Rex processions from 1922 to 1935. The all-male club is distinctive in that it does not stage a ball or feature a queen and court. Its king is known as the Arch Druid and he is accompanied on the king’s float by a jester.