Mobile International Carnival Ball 2002

I have been invloved in a civic organization here in Mobile since 1991 called Mobile International Cultural Affairs and Tourism, Inc. (M.I.C.A.T.) This organization has held the Mobile International Carnival Ball off and on over the course of it's existence. The ball was not held every year due to the way the event was setup. Conflicts and elections with host countries caused the event to be held about every other year. In 2002 MICAT was not receiving the funding that it once had and some people wanted to dissolve it. That was also the year of Mobile's 300th birthday and the city was planning events to celebrate all year. A commitment had been made several years earlier that MICAT would hold a ball or event to honor visitors from Canada. We had a meeting and with less that $25,000 in the bank most people said we there was no way we would be able to put on a ball. Luke and I as well as my dad did not agree. We told the rest of the board to give us a few weeks and we would put together a plan and a budget to show them we could pull this off. The date the even needed to happen was just under three months away so time was more of an issue than money but we were sure we could do it. To make a long story short we not only put on the ball but it was one of the best ones ever.

Luke wrote most of the script for the show which he centered around our emblem and HG Wells traveling to different periods in Mobile's carnival history. I will take you through the show with the pictures.


Darwin Singleton from one of the local TV stations narrated.

Scott Eldrige as HG Wells and Carlitta Wimberly as Carnivale' our emblem.

MOWA band of Choctaw Indians and reinactors recreate the scene at Twenty Seven Mile Bluff the site of the first Mardi Gras celebration. They dance to a Indian friendship dance called Stealing Partners and pull people from the audience to join in.