Southern Decadence—New Orleans’s original end of summer Pride celebration occurring on Labor Day this year—was led by none other than actor Jeff Goldblum as the event’s grand marshal on September 1.
Donning a leopard-skinned shirt and zebra pants, Goldblum strolled through the French Quarter greeting fans, along with co-grand marshal, Countess C. Alice (Daryl Dunaway Jr.).
Goldblum is known for his roles in movies such as “Jurassic Park,” “Independence Day,” and “The Fly.” He got his start in 1974 alongside Charles Bronson in the movie “Death Wish.”
New Orleans already has a Pride event that’s celebrated in June of each yea and coincides with similar celebrations across the United States. But Southern Decadence is considered the Big Easy’s largest LGBTQ event. Inspired in part by Tennessee Williams, the jubilee started in 1972 between a group of friends living in Treme who encouraged participants to come dressed as their favorite “Southern decadent.”
Southern Decadence thus became an annual event that attracts tens of thousands of revelers (gay and straight) to the heart of the French Quarter who dress in lavish costumes. The event is often considered the midsummer Mardi Gras and compliments the general drunken tomfoolery that occurs in the Vieux Carré on a daily basis.