Spud McConnell 2023 Grand Marshal During Carnival
Spud McConnell, a local entertainer, will be the Grand Marshal in Covington this year. McConnell is not only locally known but also is a professional actor, performer, and voice talent nationally. His resume is filled with both onstage and backstage productions that include on-camera in movies, documentaries, industrials, sitcoms and dramas.
This year Carnival in Covington parade will be on Fat Tuesday with a 450-member parade that will have 18 floats. The parade will begin right after the Covington Lions and Mystic Krewe of Covington parades. It starts in front of the St. Tammany Parish Justice Center on Columbia Street and will go along Hwy 21/Boston Street to Jefferson Ave and all through downtown. The theme this year for the Carnival in Covington is “This and Dat” celebrating popular pairs such as Barnie and Ken, Beans and Rice, Rock and Roll, Kermit and Miss Piggy, and more.
This year the parade is sponsored by American Bank, Gulf Coast Bank, Cleco, St. Tammany Parish President Mike Cooper, State Sen. Patrick McMath, Representative Mark Wright Waste, and St. Tammany Parish Hospital System/Ochsner. The floats are sponsored by Winn Dixie, Southern Hotel, Abita Roasting Company, Abita Brew Pub, St. John Fools of Misrule, T-Mobile, Parade on Columbia Med Spa, Pinecrest/EJ Fielding Funeral Home, 30 by Ninety Theatre, Armbruster Artworks, the Original Krewe of Orpheus, realtor Michelle Grubs and attorney Josh Allison.
McConnell has been on Roseanne, Treme and Hap and Leonard. You can also see a life-sized bronze statue of him on Canal Street in New Orleans. The statue was put on Canal Street due to McConnell’s grand performance in Ignatius J. Reilly’s “A Confederacy of Dunces.” He will also be in the movie “Bad Habit” which will be released this year.
“Spud will be a great grand marshal for our parade and a perfect match with this year’s theme, “This and Dat. As always, our Grand Marshal is selected in recognition of their community involvement,” says City of Covington Councilman At-Large Larry Rolling, Carnival in Covington Parade President.
