This article was originally published in January 2024. It has been updated with new information for 2025.
Inside a set of warehouses in Plaquemine, there’s a hidden world of Mardi Gras floats. Some are as sizable as a streetcar, outfitted with seating for dozens of riders. On others, statues soaring as tall as 16 feet depict pop-culture characters. There are larger-than-life alligators and panda bears, and uncanny depictions of cartoon characters and local celebrities. Every float is equipped with specialty LED lights, primed for day and night parades alike.
The artistry of these towering figures is the product of the team at Comogo Floats LLC, which recruits makers from around the state to decorate each one by hand.
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Even if you haven’t heard of the company, you’ve seen its creations.
In addition to riding in its namesake Krewe of Comogo parade, the company rents out its work to parades from Addis to Ascension Parish. In Baton Rouge, its floats ride with krewes like Oshun, Artemis and Orion, and it plays a big role in the annual Wearin’ of the Green Parade. It has rented out its floats for LSU events, too.
In between gigs, the floats are stored in a warehouse where navigating the aisles feels like wandering a maze. In fact, Comogo Floats has grown so much, it moved its operations to these larger buildings ahead of this Carnival season.
It all started in the 1990s, with Brenda Comeaux’s dream to form a downtown Plaquemine night parade. But her vision fell short in 2009, when she died from cancer.
That’s when the city came together and made a parade in her honor: the Krewe of Comogo. Comeaux’s brothers were not involved at first, but once they got the invitation to help, they were all in.
“‘If we’re going to do this, let’s get a parade going—let’s do what she wanted to do,’” Earl Comeaux remembers thinking. “So we got enough members, and we got a connection in New Orleans, and we rented some floats.”
Not long after the Comeaux brothers joined the group, they decided they needed to make their own floats. Comogo Floats LLC was born, with Earl and Ralph Comeaux as managing partners, designing floats and renting them out.
And at the Krewe of Comogo parade, this year on March 2—the Sunday before Mardi Gras—spectators can see many of these floats in the same place.
The nighttime parade has operated since 2013, now managed by Darrel Comeaux in Brenda’s honor. An 11-foot-tall float statue of Brenda, with a sign reading “In loving memory of Brenda Comeaux,” leads the parade.
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After the last beads are thrown, the brothers look onward. They start construction on new floats for the coming year almost immediately after Fat Tuesday. Earl says they intend to run the show at Comogo Floats for a good while longer.
“I would like to do it at least 10 more years myself, and hopefully somebody in my family will take it over,” he says. “My daughter’s been involved a lot; she’s helping out and learning. Hopefully, my youngest son or my daughter or one of my grandkids will pick it up.”
For an inside look, watch this episode of 225‘s Between the Lines.