Durham Mardi Gras starts fundraising for February event

Durham residents and other locals are able to enjoy a Mardi Gras celebration without traveling to New Orleans, all completely free of charge. But keeping it this way is no easy task.

In the weeks leading up to the parades and concerts that will line the streets on Feb. 17 for Durham Mardi Gras, those behind the scenes are working full-force to fundraise.

And fundraising for 2015’s Durham Mardi Gras kicked off Saturday at Durham bar Pinhook, where an $8 cover charge bought access to three live bands. Other fundraising events will follow to help pay for the hiring of the bands and other performers.

“It’s not a big-budget event, but it’s not a zero budget event,” said Durham Mardi Gras, Inc. president Kathy Violette.

Violette said while Durham Mardi Gras does not have corporate sponsors, it has partnered with Louisiana-based brewery Abita this year. The brewery is hosting a beer-dinner at LaPlace Restaurant in Hillsborough, as well as at The Pit in Durham, where $5 will buy access to a 12-tap line of Abita beer.

Sean Stoneback, manager at The Pit, said the company that owns the restaurant, Empire Eats, is dedicated to joining the neighborhood and bringing about the betterment of the community.

“What we do is we buy and renovate old buildings, and then try to put something in the building to bring the neighborhood out,” he said.

“This used to be an old, unused Coca-Cola bottling plant, but it was like, ‘Hey, you know what that area of Durham needs? It needs a restaurant.’ Barbecue is a staple of North Carolina, so it was the best thing to put here.”

Stoneback said he is happy to help out with the event and is looking forward to Feb. 17.

“The parade’s going to be great — it’s going to go right in front of the restaurant,” he said.

The Scrap Exchange, an organization partnering with the Durham Mardi Gras event, will donate Mardi Gras-related materials, such as beads and masks, to Durham Mardi Gras.

“The Scrap Exchange is a creativity center. They promote creativity through reused products,” said Cathy Kielar, a board member for The Scrap Exchange and Durham Mardi Gras.

“And they generally sell it. In this case, instead of selling it, they’re sharing it with us.”

Kielar is also a member of the Bulltown Strutters, Durham’s New Orleans-style parade band. She said her favorite part about participating in Durham Mardi Gras with the band is bringing joy to people.

“Our music is extremely uplifting,” she said. “It gets people dancing, it gets people moving, it gets people feeling happy.”

Durham Mardi Gras also depends on individual contributions to subsidize the costs of the event, which Violette estimates accounts for over 50 percent of all fundraising.

“From two events last year, we just passed the hat. That’s just people throwing bills in a bucket. And that alone was about 20 percent of our fundraising,” she said.

Violette said she is hoping 3,000 people come out to the event this year — a 1,000-person increase from last year’s Durham Mardi Gras.

“I’m a middle-aged mother of teenagers, but I wore a turquoise tutu last year. How fun is that?” Violette said.

“It’s fun to see people let go of their normal, day-to-day life and just get silly — to not take themselves seriously for a few hours.”

arts@dailytarheel.com