Pardon my French, but this year’s Downtown Mardi Gras is going to be tres magnifique.
In a preemptive strike on Fat Tuesday, the practice of eating fatty foods and imbibing before Ash Wednesday and the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, the Downtown Ambassadors and CityScape are hosting a Mardi Gras Festival, Parade, and Mardi Crawl this Friday, March 4, from 6 p.m. into the wee hours of Saturday morning.
It all begins at CityScape, where a wide variety of vendors, street performers, and Mardi Gras-themed attractions will congregate and get the crowd amped prior to the start of the Mardi Gras Parade, which will start on First Street between Jefferson and Madison at 7 p.m. and wind through a two-mile stretch of Downtown en route back to CityScape to re-join the FREE Festival, which will include:
* Live music from Bata Ire, V-Knights, Bad Cactus Brass Band, Sugar Thieves and show closer Hot Birds.
* Phoenix’s famous food trucks like Short Leash Hot Dogs, Jamburritos and Torched Goodness.
* Artists, CityScape tenants, street performers and vendors selling whigs, beads and other Mardi Gras wares.
* Beer garden to help revelers get appropriately lubricated.
Then, at 9 p.m., the Ambassadors will captain trolleys during a Mardi Crawl through Downtown Phoenix, including pub stops at Rose & Crown, Coach & Willie’s, Seamus McCaffrey’s, Ghost Lounge and Bar Smith.
The Crawl geauxs until 2 a.m., followed by a post-Crawl feast at Steve’s Greenhouse Grill. Due to trolley availability tickets for the Mardi Crawl are extremely limited so make sure you buy your tickets in advance online. $7 gets you a wristband, and $10 gets you a wristband AND post-Crawl breakfast at Steve’s.
Bargainville, population you.
See you Friday!
If that’s not enough to satisfy your ghoulish cravings, the 
You might think of the Downtown Ambassadors as knowledgeable, charming, helpful, and orange–and they are certainly all of those things–but what you probably don’t know is that the Ambassadors are some of Downtown’s most frequently stalked and talked about public figures. In fact, Ambassador Guy gets caught in paparazzi crossfire more often than Mayor Phil Gordon.
Sounds like some peeps you’d like to party with, right? 
That’s right, 
gear and layering clothing you can spare. You can drop off your donations at Ambassador headquarters (101 N. 1st Ave. #190) or, if you work Downtown, an Ambassador will gladly come pick them up at your office. For more information or to schedule a pick-up, call 602-495-1500.
DREAMR Awards Featured on PHX11
Wednesday, March 2nd, 2011The Annual Downtown Phoenix DREAMR Awards were held February 7th honoring Downtown advocates and visionaries. The following is a list of individuals and organizations honored at the luncheon:
* Harlan and Karleen Lee of Sing High Chop Suey House (Private Sector Individual)
* Deputy City Manager Dave Krietor (Public Sector/Non-Profit Individual)
* Arizona Opportunities Industrialization Center (Organization)
* CityScape (Program/Project)
* The Downtown Phoenix Ambassadors (Unsung Hero)
The DREAMR Awards also featured the 2011 “Best of Downtown” winners highlighting Downtown restaurants, businesses and attractions. For a complete list of the Best of Downtown recipients please visit: Best of Downtown Winners Announced.
For those of you who missed it, PHX11 has posted the awards ceremony in full on their web site under their “In the Public Interest” section. To view the Awards, which includes several video vignettes on Phoenicians’ dreams for the future of Downtown Phoenix, please visit: PHX11 In The Public Interest – 2011 DREAMR Awards. If you prefer to watch on television you can view the PHX11 schedule here: PHX11 Program Schedule.
Tags: Ambassadors, Arizona OIC, Best of Downtown Awards, CityScape, DREAMR Awards, PHX11
Posted in Bars & Nightlife, Community Commentary, Featured, Food, Restaurants & Dining | No Comments »