(Opelousas, La) -The Opelousas Imperial Mardi Gras Association is pleased to announce the 5th Annual Opelousas Imperial Mardi Gras Ball is scheduled for Saturday, January 20, 2024 at the Delta Grand Theatre. This year’s Royalty are King Imperial V Joseph “Joe” Godchaux, Jr. and Queen Lily V Aquanits Zachary. The theme for the ball this year is “Imperial Goes to Carnival.”
King Imperial V, Joseph Godchaux, Jr., along with Queen Lily V, Aquanits Zachary, have chosen six couples who will serve beside them on Imperial’s Royal Court. The selected couples are as follows:
Mr. Charles A. LaCaze, Jr. and Ms. Candace Papillion
Mr. Lance and Mrs. Elaine Ardoin
Mr. David and Mrs. Dene’ Dauzat
Drs. Scott Lastrapes and Dawnia Willis
Mr. Lisimba and Mrs. Sylvia Daniels
Mr. Pierre, III. and Mrs. Ciara Fontenot
The Opelousas Imperial Mardi Gras Association will host a cocktail party honoring this year’s royalty as the kick off the Mardi Gras season.
Hosting the Annual Celebration for the second consecutive year as Master and Mistress of Ceremonies are Ian Auzenne and Mary Galyean.
Ian is the morning news anchor at WWL-AM/FM in New Orleans. A graduate of Beau Chêne High School and of Princeton University, Ian has worked in Acadiana media for over a decade, serving as a news producer at KLFY and at KATC, as a news anchor and talk host on NewsTalk 96.5 KPEL, a DJ on 97.3 the Dawg and 99.9 KTDY, and as a play-by-play announcer for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Sports Network.
Mary Galyean is an Opelousas native and currently resides in St. Landry Parish. She is a longtime member of the Acadiana media, marketing, and broadcast communities. After graduating with honors from UL, she started in morning radio and broadcast sales, working her way up to be General Manager of an 8-station radio cluster for Citadel Broadcasting. After a management stint with LUS Fiber, Galyean returned to broadcasting in multi-media sales for Townsquare Media, where she works today. She is a graduate of Leadership Lafayette, and was previously named a Woman Who Means Business and one of Radio Ink Magazine’s 50 Most Influential Women in Radio. She is honored and excited to serve with Ian as co-emcee.
The doors will open at 6:00pm. There will be a social from 6:30pm-8:00pm. The Mardi Gras Ball will begin at 8:00pm. Get ready for an unforgettable night with live entertainment, great food, and lots of fun dancing! Hotline will be taking the stage promising to bring a spectacular evening of live music. There will be a full cash bar. **NO OUTSIDE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES ALLOWED.**
Tickets are $75 per person and may be purchased at the following location:
Sebastien-Dupre Fine Jewelry
822 S. Main ST
Opelousas, LA 70570
Contact Robbie Sebastien (337)948-4367
The Opelousas Imperial Mardi Gras movement is an effort to rejuvenate the original Imperial Mardi Gras, held deep in the heart of past splendor of Opelousas events, playing on the nostalgia and class of years gone by. The group behind this resurgence is comprised of several community members with heartfelt commitment to Opelousas, who are working to revive festivities that promote culture, food, music, and all that characteristic of who we are, with fun options for all ages, while also working to help connect existing events for a continual celebration of Mardi Gras traditions.
