Go S.L.O. to Find a Festival

Can’t make it to New Orleans or Rio de Janeiro for Mardi Gras? Then join the pre-Lenten party of costumed merrymakers in San Luis Obispo on Saturday, Feb. 28.

At least 1,500 celebrants will parade through the streets during the city’s nighttime mini-carnival. Also on tap are a masked ball and feasting on Cajun-style food.

This is San Luis Obispo’s ninth annual Mardi Gras event, but every Thursday evening you can join in the fun of the city’s popular farmers’ market. Fruit, vegetable and food stands fill the central business district and turn it into a street party.

Surrounding shops stay open, too; during the day 500 stores in a 20-block area are the focal point for Central Coast shoppers.

Follow the Green Line

Many shops and restaurants occupy restored turn-of-the-century buildings and are just steps away from handsome Mission San Luis Obispo that dates to 1772. A green line painted on the streets guides visitors to other historic structures in the city.

Get to the San Luis Obispo County seat from Los Angeles by driving north on U.S. 101. Exit east on Marsh Street (one way) directly into the downtown area.

The weekly Thursday night farmers’ market takes place a block away on the parallel one-way thoroughfare, Higuera Street. Traffic is diverted from the 700, 800 and 900 blocks (plus the 600 block in summer) and the street is divided into small sales areas.

Farmers and student entrepreneurs from the campus at Cal Poly arrive with loaded pickup trucks and vans and set up stands with displays of fresh produce. You find everything from artichokes and turnips to oranges and tangerines.

A Wide Variety

On a recent visit we also saw walnuts, beets, snow peas, honey, Brussels sprouts, winter squash, herbs, carrots, lettuce, cabbage and kale. Seasonal flowers are sometimes for sale.

This time of year about 30 stands are in operation; the number doubles during the summer. Year-around, huge barbecue grills are set up by restaurants in Higuera Street, mostly in the 700 block.

You can choose from chicken, seafood, shish kebab and ribs at bargain prices, served with corn on the cob, beans and bread. The local favorite is a tri-tip beef barbecue sandwich for $2. Colas and fruit drinks, coffee and fresh-baked cookies also are available along the street.

Sometimes special activities are featured, such as this Thursday night when Valentine’s Day is celebrated with music and dancing by San Luis Obispo’s Academy of Dance.

The downtown farmers’ market began in the summer of 1983 at the urging of merchants who traditionally stayed open for late shopping on Thursday nights. The street market begins about 6:30 p.m. and folds up when the stores close at 9 p.m.

The same area will be the site of the city’s Mardi Gras parade, set to begin at 7:15 p.m. on Feb. 28. San Luis Obispo is staging its carnival early, on a Saturday night, so more people can participate. Mardi Gras is officially March 3, the final fling before Ash Wednesday marks the start of Lent.

Krewe of Karnival

Two former New Orleans residents who became Cal Poly professors missed the revelry of Mardi Gras and decided to bring it to their new hometown. In 1978 they formed the Mystic Krewe of Karnival to sponsor a parade and masquerade in San Luis Obispo.

The event has grown considerably since that first year when 200 folks dressed up and marched half a block. Nowadays the flamboyant parade departs from the county courthouse on Monterey Street, goes a block down Osos Street to Higuera Street, two blocks to Chorro Street, past Mission Plaza and two blocks back on Monterey.

This year’s theme is “Hot Stuff,” and anyone is invited to join the parade of bands, floats and marchers as long as you’re in costume and register by Feb. 15. Call (805) 595-2675, leave your name and address on the answering machine and you’ll be sent an application.

Call the same number if you want to attend the masked ball in the Veteran’s Memorial Building after the parade. It’s open to the first 550 marchers (21 or older) who become a member of the sponsoring group, Mystic Krewe of Karnival. Included is a buffet supper with Cajun cooking and dance music by the Breakfast for Blues band of Los Angeles.

Send $15 for membership when you register for the parade and you’ll receive a ticket to the ball; mail orders will be taken until Feb. 20. Costumes must be worn by everyone at the ball.

To apply for membership or register for the parade in person, go to Mardi Gras headquarters, Michael’s Delicatessen, 785 Higuera St.

A block away is Mission Plaza where you can tour the fifth in the chain of Spanish missions established along the coast of California. It was named for the French Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse. Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.

Bordering the pedestrian plaza are other historic sites, including the Murray Adobe built in 1846. Beyond is the former Carnegie Library that’s now the county historical museum.

Visitor’s Guide

On the way to the plaza from Higuera Street, stop at 1039 Chorro St. to pick up the chamber of commerce visitor’s guide ($1) that features a self-guiding Path of History tour map to other points of interest in San Luis Obispo.

It also includes a dining guide and list of lodgings. Some accommodations are clustered close to the Cal Poly campus along Monterey Street northeast of downtown.

Among them is William Randolph’s Discovery Inn where a double room costs $56 and includes a full breakfast. Toll-free reservations: (800) 544-8601. The inn also is home to the Comedy Outlet, with stand-up comics performing Thursday through Saturday.

Also recommended in the same area on Monterey Street is the new Quality Suites, $69 double with breakfast; (805) 541-5001. Or try La Cuesta Motor Inn or the Sands Motel. Other lodgings are grouped south of town near the novel Madonna Inn.

Return to Los Angeles by rejoining U.S. 101 south.

Round trip from Los Angeles for San Luis Obispo’s street celebrations is 410 miles.