2019

As Mardi Gras historian Emily Hearin wrote it: "On the evening of the 1939 Mardi Gras celebration, a merry group of six friends, along with their wives and dates, left (a reception) at the Elk's Lodge ... and decided it was too early to abandon Mardi Gras for the Lenten season.

"One of the group was a part owner of the Imperial Laundry. He suggested they make use of some convict suits from the Atmore Prison Farm that had just been washed and cleaned. There were no hats or masks with the suits, so they purchased Chinese coolie hats and masks from a street vendor and proceded to parade on foot ..."

That little group led to the formation in 1940 of the Mystic Stripers Society - a reference to the prison stripes they wore a year earlier. The group first paraded in 1948 with an emblem float portraying two striped animals, a zebra and a tiger.

This year, the Stripers paraded on February 8 at 6:30 p.m. Their theme was Embellishing the Truth. The parade included 17 floats, designed by Mark Calametti and built by Craig Stephens's Carnival Artists. Costumes were by Bienville Costumes.

To see the Mask's exclusive photo album of the 2024 Stripers parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of that parade, click HERE.

 Mystic Stripers Society

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of the 2022 Mystic Stripers Society parade, click HERE.
To see the Mask's exclusive album of photos from that parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of the 2020 Mystic Stripers Society parade, click HERE.
To see the Mask's exclusive album of photos from that parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.

2018

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of the 2019 Mystic Stripers Society parade, click HERE.
To see the Mask's exclusive album of photos from that parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of the 2018 Mystic Stripers Society parade, click HERE.
To see the Mask's exclusive album of photos from that parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of the 2017 Mystic Stripers Society parade, click HERE.
To see the Mask's exclusive album of photos from that parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.

2023

2022

Archive

2024

2020

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of the 2023 Mystic Stripers Society parade, click HERE.
To see the Mask's exclusive album of photos from that parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.

2017

2016

To see the Mask's exclusive HD video of the 2016 Mystic Stripers Society parade, click HERE.
To see the Mask's exclusive album of photos from that parade, place your cursor on the image below and click on the arrows.