Red Beans Parade
Ruth Bader Beans-burg and Iris, photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee
Every year on the Monday before Fat Tuesday, the Red Beans walking Krewe parades through New Orleans in the name of red beans, rice and carnival. This is the krewe that also bought a 1969 Cadillac Hearse from a strange man in East Texas. They’re in the middle of resurrecting its spirit (and motor) to trumpet through town for the Dead Beans parade — you can add a few beans to their worthy pot here.
In celebration of their 10th year on the Lundi Gras route, we asked head bean-counter and Krewe founder Devin De Wulf for some of his favorite suits and tricks of the trade.
Vanilla Rice, photo by Devin De Wulf
To Bay Leaf or not to Bay Leaf?
Yes. They’re great to fill big spaces that need to be lightweight. Make sure to glue the entire leaf, because it will crack into lots of pieces as you move around.
Best glue for your gun?
Surebonder Brand is our favorite. It holds up well, gets to a good temperature (this is important for control) and you can buy it in bulk.
Best Beans?
We only use Camellia brand beans. They support our parade, are a family run business and they carry 21 varieties of beans which gives us a full spectrum of color to work with.
Secret Sauce?
To have flexibility, make sure each bean has a tiny bit of space between that bean and the next bean.
Avoid “spider webs” when gluing, limit how much you move your glue-gun around.
Shellac helps give those beans a good shine! Plus this will protect the beans from bugs. Watch out for moths that will eat the beans and lay eggs in them. If you see stuff that looks like sawdust, throw out your suit!
Glitter is your friend.
Chef Paul Jos, photo by Vincent Simmons
Bean-jamin Franklin, photo by Devin De Wulf
Dolly Fart-in, photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee
Freida, photo by Ryan Hodgson-Rigsbee
photo by Ryan Hodgson
