Themes

Every year, a different theme inspires the Knights of Babylon’s float designs and tableau ball. The theme of each year’s parade remains a secret until the Thursday before Mardi Gras, when Babylon rolls. Each Babylon captain, over the years, has brought his own unique perspective on themes to the creation of Babylon’s parades. At the krewe’s inception, parade themes were fairly generic, encompassing a broad concept each year. From the 1960s to through the late 1990s Babylon’s parades generally expressed literary, musical or operatic themes. Since this time, the themes have evolved into titles that express specific concepts with various floats depicting themes that corresponded to the concept-oriented title of each year’s parade. For 2014, a 75th anniversary theme inspired the parade’s title, just as a 50th anniversary theme animated our parade 25 years ago.

PAST PARADE THEMES

  • 1940 Travelogue
  • 1941 Capricious Nature
  • 1942 World War II
  • 1943 World War II
  • 1944 World War II
  • 1945 World War II
  • 1946 World War II
  • 1947 The Arts
  • 1948 Fancy's Flight
  • 1949 The Sciences
  • 1950 The Marches
  • 1951 Historical Highlights
  • 1952 Contributions to Civilization
  • 1953 Fabulous Festivals
  • 1954 Tales: Old, Ever New
  • 1955 Masks
  • 1956 The Theatre
  • 1957 Makers of History
  • 1958 Scenes from the Opera
  • 1959 Arts Through the Ages
  • 1960 Alice in Wonderland
  • 1961 Rogues and Renegades
  • 1962 The Musical Theater
  • 1963 Hans Christian Anderson
  • 1964 Le Ballet
  • 1965 Poems of Youth
  • 1966 Benjamin Franklin
  • 1967 Behind the Golden Curtain
  • 1968 Gone Are the Days
  • 1969 Don Quixote
  • 1970 Around the World in Eighty Days
  • 1971 The Student Prince
  • 1972 Peer Gynt
  • 1973 Aida
  • 1974 Anna and the King Siam
  • 1975 Robin Hood
  • 1976 Commander Matthew C. Perry
  • 1977 The Little Glass Slipper
  • 1978 Mozart
  • 1979 Henry VIII
  • 1980 Babes in Toyland
  • 1981 Tevye’s Tales
  • 1982 Snow White
  • 1983 Kismet
  • 1984 Once and Future King
  • 1985 Desert Song
  • 1986 The Matchmaker
  • 1987 Oklahoma
  • 1988 The Trapp Family Singers
  • 1989 The Golden Years
  • 1990 Pygmalion
  • 1991 Oliver Twist
  • 1992 Carmen
  • 1993 Naughty Marietta
  • 1994 New Moon
  • 1995 Music Man
  • 1996 Gigi
  • 1997 South Pacific
  • 1998 Yankee Doodle Boy
  • 1999 For the Love of Opera
  • 2000 L’histoire de Notre Heritage Francais
  • 2001 Wonderful Land of Oz
  • 2002 Guys and Dolls
  • 2003 Sauntering Through Sondheim
  • 2004 The Pirates of Penzance
  • 2005 A Frolic in Fairyland
  • 2006 Out from Under
  • 2007 The Chinese Expeditions
  • 2008 The Babylonian Sky
  • 2009 Living Jewels
  • 2010 Masks of Men
  • 2011 Babylonian Birthstones
  • 2012 The Queen's Diamond Jubilee
  • 2013 The Land of Dreams
  • 2014 Thanks for the Memories
  • 2015 Babylonian Pantheon
  • 2016 Enchantments and Transformations
  • 2017 The Lure & Legends of Gold
  • 2018 Gifts of the Gods to New Orleans
  • 2019 Winged Wonders
  • 2020 Mythological Managerie
  • 2022 Once Upon a Time
  • 2023 Wonders of the World
  • 2024 Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam