(COVINGTON, La.) It’s Carnival time and the Marching Wolves will be playing in several parades throughout the Mardi Gras season. Among the parades the wolves will be playing in are the krewes of Eve (Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. in Mandeville), Olympia (Feb. 3 at 6 p.m. in Covington), Carrollton (Feb. 4 at noon in Uptown), Hermes (Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. in Uptown), Endymion (Feb. 10 at 4:15 p.m. in Mid City), Bacchus (Feb. 11 at 5:15 p.m. in Uptown), and Zulu (Feb. 13 at 8 a.m. in Uptown).

According to saxophonist and section leader Lester Guttuso, the band’s performance is a unique crowd-pleaser.

“People like us because we do what most other bands don’t do,” Guttuso said. “We dance and interact with the crowd; we’re entertainers.”

The Marching Wolves’ performance requires significant work and stamina, according to director of bands Andrew Moran. Much preparation, including indoor song practice and marching practice throughout the streets of Covington, is required to ready the band for the intensity of the parades.

“The hardest part is endurance; it’s a long marathon,” Moran said. “What you see the band doing in the third quarter of a football game on the track, they do that the entire parade. The average parade is about five miles, and they’re dancing and moving the entire time.”

According to Moran, all of the hard work pays off, as St. Paul’s is recognized for their signature style.

“It’s the way we perform, the amount of dancing we do,” Moran said. “People recognize us by our hats, so when we get down there, they see the hat and know that they’re going to get a good show. Over on this side of the lake, we deal with a lot of school rivalries. You’ll get sixty-year-old guys booing us, but when we cross the lake we lose all of that, and we are looked at as one of the premiere, elite marching bands.”

The Marching Wolves kick off their Mardi Gras season tonight on the Northshore, marching through Mandeville with the Krewe of Eve.