On Feb. 14, the neighborhood of Historic Oakwood held its annual Samedi Gras celebration. This year, the theme was “Groovy Gras.” They crowned Ethan Barger as King Leonidas XV and Dee Penven-Crew as the ninth Imperial Empress. As is customary, residents paraded through the neighborhood led by the Oakwood Awesomettes and the Oakwood Second Line.

This article originally appeared in the May 2026 issue of WALTER magazine