Your resource for Researched Carnival Information
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Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs in New Orleans
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Don't cheat yourself out of something really special for tourist and native alike. You really have to experience one or two of the second line walking clubs, because they are a very visual treat.
By
city
ordinance
the
Social
&
Pleasure
Clubs
can
not
parade
on Mardi Gras Day.
If
they
do,
it
will
be
as
part
of
the
Mardi
Gras
Krewe
Parades.
There is a difference between the Mardi Gras walking clubs and a Social & Pleasure club. That difference is the fact that walking clubs rarely if ever do the authentic second Line. So if it is a marching club on Mardi Gras day that you want to see, be sure to get an early start, because the earliest of the walking clubs march around 6:45am, so in some cases, you will be able to see the French Qtr walking clubs, and still view the Zulu parade around 9:30 a.m. |
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| The African American Clubs, or the Social Aid and Pleasure Clubs, are a different story altogether. None celebrate or parade on Mardi Gras Day, and most will not advertise before hand that they will be marching. These diverse groups share many things in common: all participants wear colorful and color coordinated outfits, with fan, and umbrella accessories. Some sport custom handkerchiefs while others opt for just plain white ones. It is up to each club as to how elaborate they want to be. Each club has members that stop at set bars along the "parade route". | 
Zulu Walking Club |
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This is not to drink alcohol, but rather to rest, drink some water and take a restroom break, if needed. This part is the only hold over from the days long ago when the bars actually would sponsor each and every float in the Tramp , later called Zulu parade. Dixieland Jazz or brass bands frequently join in the roving celebrations.
Some of the Second Line Clubs, are also known as Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs and are something to behold, also, these clubs march on some major holidays, like Easter.
The second line season is currently made up of 42 specific Sunday's of the year,
but on
some weekends and with Jazz Funerals, you'll see an extra parade or two. We will
now begin to bring you some sort of schedule of when and where the second line clubs or groups will be. We do know that they mostly march on Sunday's on the early spring and
summer months. Each picks out a Sunday and on that Sunday the Club or group will put on a walking parade all it's own.
These are not "Jazz Funerals", but they are a celebration of life!
Walking Clubs and second line clubs or groups are very different. While walking clubs are specifically clubs that were formed to be Carnival clubs groups, Second Line Clubs are a remnant of the Social Aid and Benevolent era of long ago, as these clubs supplied the only insurance for African Americans in this area of the country, for quite a few years. When the major insurance companies began to move in and assume the financial role of these clubs, most simply turned their attention to the celebrations that these clubs had sponsored each year as "advertisement" of their respective rank, and service.
Most of these clubs and organizations reside in the downtown Treme' area of the city, still others in Gertown, in the Uptown districts, in or near Carrollton. Others are scattered throughout the city, even on
the West bank, in the Algiers district. Now the newest club is
located in the
city on the East side of the river, called New Orleans East. They call
themselves appropriately enough, the New Orleans East Steppers.
Membership is extremely hard to come by in these clubs, and they remain still fairly selective as to whom they will accept into their ranks. Dues range from $275 to as much as $890 per year, per person. That doesn't includes the various, and sometime numerous, outfits that a club can require it's members to wear.
Their finery has a vibrant and lively history, in and of itself. The history of the second line umbrella, the big sashes, as well as the feathered fans, and custom handkerchiefs, threaten to take on a life of their own in the telling of it.
We're still in the final stages of counting and looking, and these are the ones we know of so far. By some estimates, we've heard, there are up to approximately, 85 Main Line Social Clubs out there. Here are 73 of them.
Click here for Our Main Line / Second line Database
