Celebrations for Mardi Gras, a.k.a. Fat Tuesday, took off early Monday with the annual Orpheus Parade through New Orleans' French Quarter. The spectacle is filled with colorful costumes, imaginative floats and magical performances. Singer Cyndi Lauper, along with former Poison frontman Bret Michaels, presided over this year's parade as celebrity monarchs.
People celebrate on Bourbon Street as part of the Mardi Gras celebration in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana February 20, 2012.REUTERSA member of the Kolossus performance troupe rides a converted bicycle during the Orpheus Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Louisiana February 20, 2012.REUTERSA man photographs Mardi Gras participants on Bourbon Street as part of celebrations in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana February 20, 2012.REUTERSStolen Degas Painting Found On Bus Near ParisReports Of Early U.S. Embassy Move Angers PalestiniansU.N. Security Council Demands Truce As Air Strikes ContinueWoman Wades Through Icy Waters To Rescue DogTimelapse Of Skies Over Olympic Stadium in PyeongchangUnified Hockey Team Can Change People's Impressions Says CoachPyeongchang Winter Olympics Come To A CloseChina Sets Path For President Xi To Remain In Power IndefinitelyDeadly Blast Kills Four People in Leicester, EnglandBollywood's First Female Superstar Sridevi Kapoor Dies at 54Argentine Navy Shoot At Illegal Chinese Fishing BoatLondoners Freak Out Over Snow As Beast From The East Storm HitsThe Weinstein Company Plans to File For Bankruptcy
