Krewe of Nyx, Making Parade Goers Take Note

Wednesday February 6th the final leg of the 2013 Carnival season began in earnest with the back to back parading of the Krewe of Ancient Druids and the Krewe of Nyx. The Krewe of Nyx stole the evening with its well-executed float themes, incredible array of marching groups that went far beyond the usual mix of school organizations, and most importantly the throws.
Long before the actual rain began, the goddesses of Nyx filled the night air with throws that prove these ladies are here to stay. Reminiscent of the throws that crowds have come to expect from the more-established all female Krewe of Muses, Nyx is building up quite a reputation of their own.
Signature throws were predominantly pink and thrown with such generosity and frequency one can only imagine the cost. Pink and black soccer balls, light up wands, lighted headbands cascading hot pink mesh spirals and satin ribbons to imitate full pink pigtails, pink plush moon and stars, Krewe koozies, Nyx flashing light barrettes with sparkling lighted hair extensions, hot pink cups, and pink inflatable crowns are just some of the throws that were surprisingly easy to catch. Many parade goers know the intensity which is required to catch such prized items at many other parades, but these ladies tossed these highly sought after items as easily as they sprinkled the more common pairs of colorful pearl beads.
The signature throw of Nyx is the purse. Like a Zulu coconut or the Muses shoe, these are THE catch of the night. Members spend untold hours decorating them with glitter and jewels. Aside from the custom creations, tiny versions are thrown for the littlest revelers.
As Muses is the only other all-female krewe parading at night in New Orleans, the comparisons are practically inevitable. Where Muses has earned quite the reputation for new and unique throws, including their custom shoes, Nyx seems to be on a similar path with their custom purses. Over the years, Muses’ crowds have come to seek out their colorful shoe bracelets almost as much as the shoes, and as a spectator it seemed for a split second that the riders of Nyx were sporting the shoe bracelets of their fellow parading ladies.
It turns out that Nyx has taken the ever popular plastic charm bracelet and adapted it by adorning their version with pink, plastic martini glasses. Functional pink plastic martini glasses with light up bases were also thrown. Black and gold hula hoops, inflatable guitars, Mardi Gras spears, swords, and every possible lighted throw seemed to be stocked by the ladies of Nyx.
Aside from the distinctive throws, it was hard to miss the eclectic mix of marching groups separating the floats. The famous St. Augustine Marching Band and the 610 Stompers were in the evening’s line-up, electrifying the crowds. It seemed the independent adult marching groups outnumbered the school marching ensembles. From the Pussyfooters to the Sirens, the costumes and dance moves impressed onlookers.
An astonishingly well-executed second year has set the bar even higher for 2014.