Swampus Parade 2025

Storyboard
Written By Melanie Cole

Pre-parade posing at Armstrong Park before the march through the Quarter. Photo by Melanie Cole

 October 2025

Leave it to the Krewe of Krampus – who even manage to make Christmas a little spooky – to host this 2nd annual parade featuring dozens of local marching clubs, all showcasing creepy creativity and alternatives to zombie plastic throws.

- photos by Melanie Cole

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This feature is underwritten in part by the Mardi Gras Museum of Costumes and Culture.

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Melanie Cole

Brit by birth, Texan by persuasion, Melanie Cole was lured by the NOLA sirens in 2019. After college she accidentally found herself vagabonding around the globe in an international modeling career. By the 90s she’d ditched the runway heels for a thrift store army parka and torn jeans and began training as a graphic designer in Hamburg, Germany. She spent the following decades designing and developing print retail magazines for major publishing houses there.

Creating layouts that told stories in photos, together with her early years spent in front of a camera, honed her innate ability to capture the essence of a photographic story. She remains passionate about light, color, space, movement, people and their cultures, and visually documenting their stories.

Melanie lives with her two cats and loves to kayak LA/MS backwaters in her free time. Contact her at melanieshootsphotos@gmail.com and follow her at melnaieshootsphotos on Instagram.

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