Fourth Annual Destin Harbor Party Gras Parade gets even bigger

Let the good times roll at the Fourth Annual Party Gras on the Destin Harbor at 2 p.m. Feb. 4. All Party Gras events are free and open to the public.

More than 60 parade entries will roll, float, pedal and push their way down the Destin harbor from AJ's Seafood and Oyster House to the west end of HarborWalk Village. The top three parade entries will win awards, including weekend stays at Emerald Grande, pampering spa treatments and Mardi Gras lagniappe.

This year's event will culminate in an epic street festival featuring street performers, concerts and family fun. Revelers can make carnival masks, march to brass bands and catch handfuls of colorful beads at the 2012 celebration. Featured entertainers scheduled are Captain Papillion, the enviro-pirate in his full Mardi Gras regalia, and The Dents Brothers, known for years playing on Bourbon Street their famous second line antics. 

The Destin Harbor Mardi Gras Parade applications are available at emeraldgrande.com.

All parade participants and the viewing public are asked to bring boxes of food or cash donations for Destin's Harvest House. 

"We have the opportunity to impact the lives of others by partnering with our local food banks through Destin Harvest,” said Jamie Hall, public relations director for HarborWalk Village. "Our hope is to raise much needed funds, collect non-perishable food items and bring awareness to our local families who struggle daily to feed their families. We all want to help, and participating in this event gives back to our community.”

Destin Harvest is a non-profit telephone and transportation network operating in the Florida Panhandle that picks up the donated food and takes it to the social service agencies serving the people who need it. Destin Harvest provides good food to the hungry of the Florida Panhandle. Every day thousands of Floridians go hungry. Some are sick, or unemployed or homeless. Many are elderly. Many are in working families. Destin Harvest delivers the wholesome food immediately to agencies feeding those in need. The goal of Destin Harvest is to complement all of the existing hunger programs. Our objective is to deliver food to all of the approved emergency feeding programs through out the Northwest Florida area.

HarborWalk Village is at the foot of the Destin Bridge on U.S. Highway 98.