Multimedia: Making Mardi Gras

Garage floors are speckled with glitter. Paint and paper mache are drying. Callused fingers are furiously sewing. Outsiders think they know what Mardi Gras is all about: a drunken revelry of beads and nudity. But the preparations under way across the city in the run-up to Mardi Gras as people create costumes, floats and throws pint to what people here say is the real Mardi Gras: a wildly creative time that celebrates the city’s rich history. These are some of the people who transform themselves and the city for a few days.