Fat Tuesday Starts Early in Kansas City

The Top of the Bottoms Social Aide Pleasure Society's Dirty Force Brass Knuckle Street Band and Soul Revue, or simply Dirty Force, has gained a reputation for arriving unannounced. But each year on Mardi Gras, the New Orleans-style brass band gathers on Kansas City's West Side to mark the festivities with an early morning march.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City, MO – Revelers will be out in full force Tuesday, February 24, 2009 at Mardi Gras celebrations, including the 18th Street Mardi Gras parade from the Crossroads, at 18th and Wyandotte, to 18th and Vine, 6 - 9 pm, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Listen here to the February 23, 2009 Walt Bodine Show about Kansas City's Mardi Gras traditions.

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Watch a slideshow with sounds from the march