One of the highlights of carnival season in Slidell is the annual boat parade of the Krewe of Bilge.

This year the krewe is celebrating 30 years of parading through the canals of Eden Isles entertaining spectators with their gaily-designed boat floats.

The krewe has seen a lot of changes in 30 years, said the krewe captain Rod “Dookie” Nunez. It began in 1978 when some Eden Isles residents decided to form the Krewe of Bilge. The first parade had seven boats. Last Saturday’s parade had over 30 boats, and the krewe boasts 400 members.

(Use arrows above to view more photos)

Over the years, the parade has seen some pretty strange stuff. One year the Salmen High School Band rode on a barge. Another year, someone had a live donkey on a barge. Nunez, who was the krewe’s eighth king said it snowed the year he ruled, but that did not stop the parade.

“We have never cancelled a parade,” Nunez said.

An interesting aspect of the parade is they stopped throwing doubloons to the crowds.

“We lost too many in the water,” Nunez said. “But we still have bronze commemorative doubloons.”

The parade has also had its share of celebrity grand marshals including Slidell Mayor Ben Morris, and television personalities Frank Davis, Hoda Kotbe, Eric Paulsen and local actress Becky Allen. This year’s marshal was world champion boat racer, Jay Price.

This year’s theme was “Making History,” and the krewe’s irreverent members came up with interesting ideas of what made history. There were floats depicting the birth of rock and roll, the Beatles coming to America, the Woodstock Music Festival and LSU winning the National Championship. There were also serious themes such as the Vietnam War, the sinking of the Titanic, and the Roman Empire.

One float combined reality and fantasy by depicting the air battle between Snoopy and the Red Baron.

The boat had wings and an actual operating propeller.

This year, A.G. Lowe ruled over the boats as king with Pamela Jugan as queen.