Technically, the first Mardi Gras in the United States started in Mobile, Alabama. But New Orleans “really perfected it,” says Barry Kern, president and CEO of Kern Studios and Mardi Gras World. One of the most recognizable ways New Orleans has taken Carnival to new heights (literally) is through its humongous Mardi Gras floats, a tradition started in part by Kern’s grandfather in 1932. A single, humble float pulled by wagon has morphed into hundreds of floats in hundreds of parades year after year.

So how do float artists make Mardi Gras year after year? Kern Studios has a year-round staff of float artists, designers, and sculptors. Meet them all in our latest installment of the “Making Mardi Gras” video series.