Barefoot Mardi Gras is one of Padre Island's biggest fundraising events of the year—and it's back in full swing! It will be held on Saturday, March 1, 2025, and it is a free, family-friendly beach parade of golf carts, cars, floats, trucks, and even pedestrians. It’s hosted by the Padre Island Business Association every year. Organizers are expecting over 15,000 people to attend Barefoot Mardi Gras 2025.
"It's been around for a little over 15 years now. We love to engage with the community through this event. We normally end up with around 15,000 people," the Padre Island Business Association President Stephanie Hesch said.
While islanders do know how to throw a beach parade, Padre Island Neighborhood News Reporter Erin Holly talked to this year’s newly crowned king and queen and island neighbors, John and Millie Stokes, about the causes that Barefoot Mardi Gras is raising money for this year.
“We are raising money and awareness for three charities. American Legion Post 229, which is the island post, the Corpus Christi Firefighters Foundation—Care Foundation, and the Texas Sealife Center, which is our on-island rescue rehab facility for injured sea turtles," Millie Stokes, the 2025 Barefoot Mardi Gras queen, said.
"It's a family-friendly and pet-friendly event. So feel free to bring down your kids and your dogs and your beach chairs and coolers and join the fun," Hesch said. "Usually, some people start arriving as early as 6 a.m."
There’s a new parade route this year. In the past, the parade route has typically been about one mile long. This year's route is slightly longer at about a mile and a half long. It starts at Beach Access Road 5 on the island and ends at Access Road 3A. Organizers of Barefoot Mardi Gras encourage neighbors to arrive early to find parking. More information on event details for Barefoot Mardi Gras 2025 can be found here.
"We just see thousands of people and we've been doing this for about seven years, just participating in the parade, and it's just so much fun to wave to everybody, see the joy on their faces, enjoy a beautiful beach day. Nothing could be better than being in a parade on the beach. It's a full day of a community experience," 2025 Barefoot Mardi Gras king and queen John and Millie Stokes said.
The Barefoot Mardi Gras parade kicks off at 11:00 am on Saturday, March 1, 2025.
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