Never-before-seen photos and film footage, interviews with carnival participants, and classic New Orleans music explore African-Creole carnival traditions, from Colonial days through Reconstruction and Jim Crow to modern-day adaptations. The men and women who make Mardi Gras in the black community-Indians and Skeletons, Baby Dolls and Second-Liners, marching bands and flambeaux, Kings and Queens of Zulu-share their songs, stories, costumes, and dances, revealing a unique, vibrant folk-art culture.