MOBILE, Ala. ( WKRG ) — There are certainly some interesting Mardi Gras traditions along the Gulf Coast. One of those might be a little more unusual than others: The Knights of Revelry, a Mardi Gras organization, inflates cow bladders to use on Mardi Gras day.
Folly is the emblem of the KOR parade, and he dances atop his champagne glass beating the bladders on the side of his glass. The beating of the metallic inflated bladder symbolizes Folly defeating death and ushering in happiness for the new year.
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WKRG has agreed not to use the last names of organization members. They let our cameras into their secret den as they prepared the bladders for Mardi Gras Day. Member, Blake, is playing Folly for the second year. He says it’s a role he has wanted since he was a child.
“It means the world to me. It is something I have looked up to since I was a child. My uncle was a Folly when I was 10 years old.”