Mardi Gras Gaslamp

Love this event. Can’t wait to go again this year! It’s awesome to party on the closed streets of the Gaslamp. Last year Snoop Dogg headlined and this year it’s Bone Thugs-​N-​Harmony. I also found a promo code SDVILLE that saves $ 5 on GA tickets and $ 10 off VIP. I get VIP because you get 3 free drinks, your own bars and bathrooms and all these other perks.

Great place to come rage. The price is kinda high but what do you expect for a crazy night. Not sure if i would come out again unless i got a deal on group on or something.

Most people buy tickets to this event just to come in and drink. When the event is over at midnight, they continue their drinking at one of the many bars that are open. The parade is nice, but after seeing it so many times, it gets old.
But since I get paid to be there, I’ll continue to go.

It ain’t over but so far I’ve had a Fun night! The float with the drummer was dope. Snoop killed it.

This was my first year at Mardi Gras in San Diego, but it def won’t be my last! I did a VIP package (Club VIP to be exact) and I have to say I started feeling pretty darn great after those 10 welcome shots! I got to check out venues that I normally wouldn’t be able to get into because of the pass. Even though I was intoxicated I could still read the map that was given with the VIP. THANK GOD FOR THE MAP! The only downer was that my feet hurt by the end of the event! Too much walking involved! Next year I will be wearing tennis shoes!

$ 45 for the privilege of wandering aimlessly on public streets we already pay for that are blocked off? What a waste of money and resources, in so many ways.
They killed it. No more spontaneity or ambiance. People are herded around like sheep. The whole purpose has become just another huge bureaucratic money grab and «redistribution» …from us to them.
Want a beer? Ha! Suckers.

Very expensive ($ 40) for what you get. Just hordes of people with no style and in many cases uncivilized manners. Just paying to hang around the usual streets of Gaslamp with booths selling drinks at outrageous prices. And ok, many DJs and loud music, you can save the money and the rude people by staying at one of the hotels and checking the panorama from the rooftops or terraces. It is honestly the most horrible Mardi Gras (lets not compare with any Carnival, neither Rio, not Sitges, nor Cadiz not everything else that is nice, familiar, friendly, fun and in most cases free. Avoid this Mardi Gras at all costs if you have been lucky enough to attend one of the mentioned above because you will be extremely disappointed. Horrible ambiance, zero spontaneity. The only show is the one offered by the ladies and gentleman sporting the banners with ‘repent’ and ‘you will burn in hell’ and similar.

What happened to this year’s Mardi Gras compared to last year’s? OH wait, there was an actual parade last year and $ 15 admission. Fast Forward to 2013: minus the parade, live entertainment (one main mediocre DJ), lack of crowd, and real drink specials and that pretty much sums it up. What is the point of now paying $ 40 presale and $ 50 at the gate?
No one was enthusiastic about beads nor made real effort for them. It just had no upbeat vibe to the group of people who were attending. Maybe it was too cold this year? I have to admit it was way colder this year than last year.
I was really sad. I think I’m better off exploring Hillcrest next year. I heard they had a parade of some sort.

I remember going to a Mardi Gras down in the Gaslamp about 10 years ago.
It was completely sold out, wall to wall with people having a blast.
This year was a lot different.
We got down there about 8pm, since it had started about 6, I figured we would have gotten there when the party was in full swing.
After a quick security check we found ourselves walking into what reminded me of the old Street Scene set up.
Stages at the end of every block with different music, people dancing in the streets in something that looked like a parade. Cool costumes and flying beads but everything seemed so disbursed with the lack of people there.
It was like the end of a house party where the guests were all in separate corners doing their own thing.
After a round of Bud Lights at $ 5.50 on the street, we decided there must be a better offer in one of the bars.
Our first attempt was a «Smoke House», which smelled nothing of meat and wanted to charge us $ 15 for a mixed drink. Needless to say, I will never be back there again.
We walked across the street to Berkley Pizza where we ended up staying most of the night enjoying their strong beers.
Nothing against the people that put the event together, but overall there just wasn’t much excitement.

The 2013 Mardi Gras in Gaslamp was super disappointing. It was severely lacking in energy and excitement from past years. Crowds were sparse, street performers almost non-​existent and the main stage DJ was average.
The biggest letdown, however, had to be the lack of a parade. There was just weird bus floats parked in the middle of the street. How can you have Mardi Gras without any sort of parade?!

A lot has changed in the three or four years since I’ve been here. For one, the parade is gone which was probably the best part of the event. Craig Robinson was there last time.
This year it was just dead. It almost seemed like a regular night in Gaslamp. The jazz stage wasn’t happening, the other stages maybe a little bit more. The only stage worth going to was the electronic stage by the entrance because that’s where most people were. Especially if you like your unce unce unce or wuuub wuub wuuub.
The girls didn’t even want to earn beads the right way. I mean, four years ago, the only women flashing were 40 to 50 and overweight but still. It was something. As long as you carried around emergency eye bleach it was fine.
This year, the only thing exciting to happen was a guy getting arrested after a fight. And even then, it wasn’t really a fight. Just one guy grabbing the other by the shirt, staring into his eyes and dragging him to the ground.
On second thought. Maybe that was foreplay.

A couple years ago, I had a much more eventful experience at Mardi Gras Gaslamp. Maybe it was because I was younger and more boozed up. No, that’s not it. It’s because they had a moving parade.
I went this year and they introduced stationary floats. Whaa. Not the same. Granted, they had music stages and plenty of performers and bead throwing, but it was still lacking. I think the highlight for me was discovering Burger Lounge downtown and enjoying it for the first time.
Overpriced.

I went in 2012 and thought it was pretty decent for $ 15. There were a bunch of people and there was a parade. I would have given it 3.5 stars for 2012.
Come 2013 and prices jump to $ 40 presale and $ 50 at the gate. There’s no parade and not that many people (figures who would want to pay ⁴⁰⁄₅₀ for this). Restaurants/​bars wern’t doing anything special either.
I already wasn’t going to go because of the price but my friend had some free tickets. Definitely not worth it. I won’t be going next year unless they lowered the price and bring back the parade.

Somewhere between a 3 and a 3.5. The parade was absent this year. Unfortunately I can’t vouch for the the parade in previous years since this was my first Mardi Gras in the Gaslamp. I’m pretty certain that it would have definitely added to the entertainment though. There were still plenty of costumes, dancers and other performers in the are
I got there early (about 5:45) so it wasn’t crowded when I arrived. Going through the security was totally painless. There wasn’t a whole lot going on until probably around 7:30, then more people ended up showing up and the event started filling up. There were some pretty cool performances. There was a section with EDM (Electronic Dance Music) and hip-​hop, then a stage with rock/​soft rock, some reggae, and various other styles. Overall there was a pretty wide range of musical styles.
There was a large security, staff and police presence as well. It was a great effort to keep things safe since downtown can get a little crazy sometimes and it’s good to have at least a little peace of mind when you are there.
There were plenty of stations to buy beer. Too bad it was only Bud Light. They also had an area for cocktails which weren’t necessarily cheap but at least they offered some variety.
Several restaurants remained opened during the festivities, some were taking advantage of the Mardi Gras event and charging exorbitant amounts for drinks while others were just business as usual. So if you weren’t a fan of Bud Light, or some of the other cocktails, there are other options available outside the event, some with pretty good views of the festivities.
Overall the event was fun but since I won tickets it was worth the $ 12 I had to pay to for parking to attend the event. I didn’t eat or drink anything during the event either so I got off pretty inexpensively. I met up with some friends and we ended up just dipping into a restaurant and spent a couple hours telling stories, laughing and having a good time in some comfortable seats. If I had to pay full price for the tickets, bought food, drinks and paid for parking, I honestly probably wouldn’t consider it enough fun to justify the cost. However, take that with a grain of salt. Like I said, I only saw a fraction of the live performances so there might haveactually been more that would have made me feel like there was more value in it. I just didn’t see it. However, if you are a San Diegan, you really do kind of owe to yourself to attend Mardi Gras in the Gaslamp at least once. If you do, just act responsibly.

Had So much fun! San Diego did me proud. Yeah, it was lacking in some ways, the parade was waaaay to short and the «floats» weren’t named, but who cares.

Likely, this is where the Zombie Apocalypse will begin.
I recently saw massive hoards of undead looking people aimlessly roaming the streets in search of beads. Are brains really that far away?
After asking roughly 7 folks if they knew what the cultural or historical significance behind the ‘holiday’ was, I got some varied responses.
«Uhhhhh, CELEBRATION!»
«It has to do with the New Orleans flood survivors»
«What? It’s Mardi Gras?»
«Boobies, Man. Do you need another reason?»
Also, my favorite and most intelligent-​sounding one…
«It’s a celebration that has to do with the victory of the French during some war. And getting f***ed up»
I rest my case.

The parade is quite underwhelming, but overall it is a good time. It is fun because there are so many people, most of which are dressed crazily. All of the bars are bound to be packed and a good time. The patio at Henry’s is one of the better places to watch the parade/​crazy people. You really do need to drink to enjoy it though, otherwise it just seems crowded and obnoxious.

Had an absolute BLAST at Mardi Gras 2011. A friend and I opted for VIP tickets and would never do anything but from here on out! We bought one drink the entire night thanks to our «welcome shots». Its definitely worth it if you plan out your night ahead of time and know where you want to go. We went to so many places that we never would have gone to otherwise. We had little problems getting through the lines and getting our VIP badges (unlike Halloween where it was terrible-​thats def a NEVER AGAIN).
VIP Mardi Gras 2012 is already on our list of things to do! AWESOME TIME!

Freakin’ Robert H. beat me in the FTR… (Shakes fist in the air…)
I already had plans to attend, and with FREE tix, it was even better!
Yes, I was forewarned… I hate crowds and I hate drunk bastards…
Actually, I expected worse with regards to the crowds. Perhaps our group just ended up at the right place where it didn’t seem as crowded.
The parade… What parade?! I mean — where were the «floats»?! Are floats buses and low rider cars nowadays? Also, there were LARGE gaps in between these «floats».
The throwing of the beads left much to be desired. It appeared that the people on the floats were being shiesty with the beads.
Our group walked around and ended up at Fred’s for some drinking. I think I had about 4 drinks and ended up munching on some chips and mooched off someone’s fried crab/​spinach cake ?!
I expected so much more and was disappointed. Won’t return unless I win FREE tix…

I had low expectations going in, and was glad to have tickets beforehand.
— Event Doesn’t Seem Well Planned
— Vendors get shafted
— Booze is Budweiser and Expensive
— Full Street Blocked
— Odd Variety of GoGo Dancers
— Small Parade
The event seemed very slapped together from the ticket collection, lack of signage and scattered vendors to the blocked off streets that leave 33K people to brush shoulders on the 3ft. sidewalk.
I was expecting a little more action than a few GoGo dancers, like, how about masked people on stilts? They were there you say? Maybe for 5 minutes.
Where are the drink specials? Where is the dancing? Where is the love?
For all of the hype this event gets, I just expected it to be more of an experience than a knock-​off street fair. I am happy that I had free tickets (Thanks Danny!) but would have been disappointed to pay $ 25 entrance and then $ 7 for some butt-​wiper.
I don’t think I’ll be coming back, the real thing is the only event worth seeing during Mardi Gras.