40 Years – Mardi Gras is Back in Rubonia 2020
The Historical Rubonia/Terra Ceia Mardi Gras festivities, which previous years attracted a crowd of about 15,000 and in some years has drawn as many as 30,000, has been taking place since 1980. It began when a small band of friends, the Krewe of the Mystic Rainbow, assembled a few makeshift floats and marched through Rubonia and now is rich and diverse in entertainment. It has accommodated from wild pie fights to bead tossing to the Budweiser Clydesdale’s clopping past Gordon’s Auto Repair and Garage on the outskirts of town. As with the tradition of community, proceeds from the Mardi Gras festival helps the Rubonia Community Center, and provides scholarships for children who lived in the small town. Forty years ago, the Mystic Rainbow began this sweet tradition of a celebration of life. Moving forward, the community has entrusted the Parade to a community oriented and based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (The D. L. Randall Foundation, Inc.) to continue the parade’s historical legacy.
Beat Down Band YBA DJ Big Dawg
Please come and join the fun on Saturday, February 29, 2020 from 12-6PM. The parade will start promptly at 12 and live entertainment will directly follow at the Rubonia Community Center grounds, 1309 72d St. E Rubonia, FL 34221. The live entertainment will include AJ and the Automatics and The Beat Down Band. There will be a kids’ zone, bounce houses, Cornhole, an assortment of vendors, and different food cuisine for all.
The Parade
The parade is a traditional Mardi Gras style celebration with costumed crews walking or on floats, from which they throw beads, doubloons and other trinkets. Bring a lawn chair to set up on the parade route and come hungry,to enjoy some of the best local seafood and BBQ you’ll find via numerous front-yard set-ups. Beer and other beverages are available at the mini-mart.
Event Facts
The event is sponsored by the D. L. Randall Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit organization. The foundation was founded on the progressive understanding of providing a plethora of community resources to empower the whole.
The event dates back to 1980 when Luanne Topp (aka Ruby Rubonia) wanted to go to the New Orleans Mardi Gras to celebrate her birthday. She couldn’t manage to put the trip together, so to cheer her up, about a dozen friends jumped on a truck and threw their own parade through the town.
The Locals
Locals enjoyed it so much that it became an annual tradition. Each year, the parade continued to grow, simply by word of mouth, with paraders and revelers coming from all over the state to enjoy the celebration. At its peak, as many as 20,000 spectators have made the trip for the event.
Hello, I have seen disturbing videos of a young girl dance team performing at this years Mardi Gras parade. Young teens dancing like grown women in clubs. Dancing on chairs and straddling each other to songs that talk about going deep while grown men were video taping, trying to touch them and throwing money. The DJ was egging them on. We must protect our young ladies and teach them better, let them know they should expect better. We must show grown men that pedophile type behavior will not be tolerated anymore. What will y’all do to help stop the exploitation of these young girls? What kind of guidelines can we expect for next year’s parade?
In regards to the previous message, The Mardi Gras Parade was held on Saturday not Sunday. What took place on Sunday is NO affiliation with the Madi Gras Parade or D L Randall Foundation. Concern Board Member