St.Louis’ Soulard Mardi Gras Parade is set for March 1st, but a the annual festivities begin this weekend. Popular Mardi Gras celebrations kick-off Saturday at the Lift for Life Elementary School gym with a Family Winter Carnival featuring arts and crafts. Then in Feb. there’s the  Soulard Pub Crawl and Scavenger Hunt on Saturday the 8th. The weekend after that is a cajin cook-off at Soulard Market Park followed the next weekend by a 5K Mardi Gras Beads run. On Sat. and Sunday Feb 22nd and 23rd it’s the Taste of Soulard, a self-guided pub and restaurant crawl. The world’s largest pet parade is also that Sunday. The mayors Mardi-Gras Ball is Feb. 28th and things finally wind up on Sat. March 1st with the Grand Parade where you’ll join thousands of people in the street, plus live music in a heated party tent. This years STL Mardi Gras theme….Cooking Up a Celebration. Steve Potter, KTRS News.