The Orange Beach Parade started way back when as a loose confederation of groups, large and small, that wanted to parade by the beach.
About 10 years ago, the city of Orange Beach stepped in and took over the planning of the parade. It's still open to participation by just about anybody, even groups from outside of Orange Beach.
The Mystical Maids of Miram and the Mystics of Pleasure contribute to the parade, but so do groups from Foley to Perdido Key. Even groups that parade in Gulf Shores earlier in the day move up the road to be in the Orange Beach procession.
Typically, these days, there's about 55 units in the Fat Tuesday afternoon parade, and about 30,000 people gather along the two-mile stretch of Perdido Beach Boulevard to stand in the rain of throws.
