On Super Bowl Sunday in February, a defiant army of Who Dats boycotted the game, and instead drank, danced and commiserated their way through the French Quarter. The “Blackout & Gold Second Line Parade” was a tribute to the outstanding Saints season that ended in disappointment due to disgraceful NFL officiating during the NFC championship contest.
With a new Saints season about to begin, the organizer of the “Blackout & Gold” parade is planning another high-profile fan procession.
At noon on Sunday, Nov. 3 — a bye day in the Saints schedule — organizer Kim Bergeron hopes the Who Dat Nation will assemble in City Park to set a Guinness World Record for “largest second-line.” Because this will be the first time Guinness attempts to document the number of participants in a New Orleans-style street procession, the British institution has ruled that the “Black & Gold Second Line” must exceed 1,000 participants to set the record.
Bergeron, who owns an advertising, marketing and public relations business, estimates that 30,000 Saints fans turned out for the original event on Feb. 3. While that parade was a sort of cathartic consolation after the bitter “no call,” Bergeron hopes the upcoming gathering will have a more upbeat tone. “The world will be watching the Saints especially,” she said. “This is a celebration of resilience and fan love.”
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While two other teams prepared to contend for the Lombardi Trophy in Atlanta, Saints faithful spent Super Bowl Sunday turning New Orleans into…
Bergeron said brass bands, social aid and pleasure club marchers, and Mardi Gras Indians will be invited to participate in the event as well as Saints superfans. “Our goal is to remain as true as possible to the authentic second-line tradition,” Bergeron stated in the parade announcement. The parade will not include marching bands or Mardi Gras dance groups.
Bergeron said she originally hoped to set the parade record on Sept. 8, the day before the Saints' Monday night opening game. But she said she was unable to secure a parade permit for a sufficiently long route. The parade, Bergeron said, must travel a full mile to qualify for the Guinness World Record. After “bouncing around” from one potential site to another and one date to another, Bergeron said she decided to rent Roosevelt Mall, the main drag in City Park.
Warning Saints' fans: Reading this might be a tough pill for you to swallow.
Unlike the “Blackout & Gold Second Line Parade,” participants in the “Black and Gold Second Line” will be asked to pay admission to the event to cover expenses. Advance tickets go on sale Wednesday for $20 at the Rightbraindiariers website.
Bergeron said by her estimate, 10,000 fans must buy tickets to cover the cost of the parade. She pointed out that 600 rented barricades will be required to surround the second-line, plus signs, race-style number bibs (a Guinness requirement), payments to musicians, portable toilets, liability insurance, online ticketing fees, the City Park rental, cleanup costs, the Guinness fee to license and adjudicate the record attempt and police details to patrol the event.
Who Dats fill North Peters Street during the Blackout and Gold Second Line parade to protest the no call that likely cost the Saints a spot in today's Super Bowl on Sunday, February 3, 2019. (Photo by Michael DeMocker, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Bergeron said if there is surplus money left over after the bills are paid, some will be donated to charity and some will be used to pay the six-person team managing the event, including herself. “I’ll be the last to be paid,” she said.
Bergeron said she's been in touch with the Saints organization to make it aware of her plans and she plans to continue communicating with the team management. "Certainly we want them on board," she said.
New Orleans threw a Super Bowl boycott party. It was a hit.
