About Krewe of Red Beans

The Krewe of Red Beans began in 2009 with a small group of friends - mostly school teachers and recent transplants to New Orleans. The krewe was inspired by a mixture of New Orleans traditional cultural practices - mainly the annual suit-making of Black Masking Indians and the parade style of second lines.

The first parade was attended by no spectators - but the 25 initial krewe members and their brass band had a great time parading on Lundi Gras. Al "Carnival Time" Johnson joined them as the grand marshal. They decided to repeat the parade the following Lundi Gras.

Over the years, the parade grew in size. As the krewe grew, it's growth model became creating copies of itself - a new bean parade in another neighborhood. Today, there are three bean-parades, 450 krewe members, and around 15,000 spectators each Lundi Gras.

As the krewe members have grown, the parade has become very kid-friendly. We are proudly one of the only parades where parents march alongside their children.

For many in New Orleans, the Krewe of Red Beans has become a Lundi Gras tradition.

We are a registered 501c3 organization - tax ID 82-0667168

Our mailing address is 3300 Royal Street, New Orleans, LA 70117.

During COVID - what we accomplished for our city

With our initiatives, we have:

  • Raised $3,317,249.61.
  • Created $1,000,075,662.00 in direct employment for 252 culture creators in New Orleans.
  • Helped 104 musicians, 33 Mardi Gras Indians, 67 Second Line & Baby Doll members, 23 artists, and others.  

Beanlandia is a dream to keep all this going - year after year!

Our initiatives — Feed the Front Line NOLA, Hire A Mardi Gras Artist, Bean Coin, and Fest Fest — inspired and supported our city. And our sister non-profit, Feed the Second Line has made an important impact in its first year and a half.

Krewe of Red Beans Guiding Values

Accountability
Diversity
Community
Creativity
Love and Respect

Board of Directors

Given the work of the Krewe, we have remade our board of directors to help the organization grow.

Julie Kawahara
Kitty Cook Ramsey
Amelia Pellegrin
Vince Hayward
Tia Heard
Jacqueline Thanh
Carolina Hernandez
Kelly Ransom
Richard Weening
Angele Givens
Devin De Wulf
Matt Wisdom
The executive director of the Krewe of Red Beans is Devin De Wulf, the founder of the krewe.

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