Known for its decadent parties and bead tosses, Mardi Gras only comes once a year, but it continues to get bigger and bigger in gay San Diego. Most notably, Bourbon Street’s Seven Days of Decadence – the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in San Diego – and the Hillcrest Mardi Gras celebrations are two events expected to draw not only big crowds, but also big funds for community organizations.

With a bar named after the famous street in the French Quarter it only makes sense that Mardi Gras has become an institution at Bourbon Street, and the bar has been the home of San Diego’s original gay Mardi Gras celebration for 17 years. Seven Days of Decadence is the theme for Bourbon Street this year with seven straight days of parties, including their kick off party on Wednesday, Feb. 18, Falcon Studios Night on Thursday, Feb. 19, Women’s Decadence and Lights Out Night on Friday, Feb. 20, White Party Warm-Up Night on Saturday, Feb. 21, Chi Chi La Rue Boy Revue Night on Sunday, Feb. 22, Southern Decadence/Colt Studios Night on Monday, Feb. 23, and ending the week with a Fat Tuesday blow out on Tuesday, Feb. 24, with a soon-to-be annual Mardi Gras king and queen contest featuring a cash prize of $1,000, and an additional $1,000 in prizes.

“This year is by far our biggest Mardi Gras,” said Tom Felkner, co-owner of Bourbon Street. “It may be one of the biggest events held in San Diego, seven days of parties in a row. We’ve brought in people who have never been in San Diego from Falcon, Colt and Chi Chi La Rue. It’s something that people have never seen before in San Diego and it’s one night after another.”

The idea, according to Felkner, was to get a little bit of something for everybody – so whether muscle boys or hairy daddies are your type, there will be plenty of eye candy, including Falcon Video star Tyler Gunn, Chi Chi La Rue’s Live and Raw models Eddie Stone and Logan Reed, and Colt Model Carl Hardwick. On the musical side of the entertainment, there will be everything from live jazz with Janice Edwards to DJ Brian Pfeifer.

Bourbon Street has been working with William Lopez of Alternative Strategies to publicize the events.

“William has brought some good PR to us,” Felkner said. “Fox Live in the morning is going to be broadcasting here on Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. We’re doing a free breakfast that’s being catered by The Cantina. We are going to be playing a special Bingo and Janice Edwards is going to perform so we are going to try to get people to come in on their way to work.”

This year Bourbon Street will use money raised during their Mardi Gras celebration to benefit a local charity. The Ben Dillingham Community Grant will be the beneficiary of this year’s proceeds. Since its establishment three years ago, the emergency grant fund has given out over $30,000 in times of crisis to cover the costs of burial expenses, food vouchers, emergency healthcare and even to cover up graffiti and repair vandalism for individuals and organizations that might not otherwise be able to afford to.

“We’ve already started raising money for it,” Felkner said, expecting the donation to be a considerable amount. “At every Bingo that we’ve done, all of the money is going to that for the last couple of months. The money from our Cajun Buffet on Mardi Gras night is going to it and we’re doing a raffle that we’ve already sold 300 tickets to and we got a large contribution of money through Miller Light.”

All of the events hosted by Bourbon Street during their Seven Days of Decadence are free to the public.

“This is the biggest event I think any bar has done in San Diego,” Felkner says. “The only other event that is bigger than this is Pride. … Seven days of parties in a row and huge big names coming in.”

While Bourbon Street is hosting seven days of celebrations across town, Hillcrest Mardi Gras is gearing up for its own one-night only extravaganza slated for Fat Tuesday, Feb. 24. Benefiting the GSDBA Charitable Foundation and the Hillcrest Business Association, Hillcrest Mardi Gras will be closing down University Avenue with two stages of entertainment and an outdoor dance floor. This will be the third year for the annual event, and it is expected to be bigger and better than ever.

“We had, I believe it was 2,300 last year,” Jim North, President of the GSDBA Foundation, told the Gay & Lesbian Times. “That was with it pouring rain and we are hoping that there is none this year.”

A board comprised of members from both the GSDBA and The Hillcrest Association has been hard at work planning for the Hillcrest Mardi Gras 2004 celebration for close to a year now. This year’s event will feature an expanded venue. For the last two years organizers have closed down University between Third and Fourth Avenue, but this year the event will stretch all the way down to First Avenue.

“The layout is being changed a little bit,” North said regarding other changes to the event. “The dance floor is being moved, the main stage is being moved and there is a secondary stage that is also being moved. We needed to expand our space because there were so many requests for additional tickets last year that we need to do something for this year.”

The entertainment for the main stage includes the Lips Girls and Friends, Tootie, Babette Schwartz, Candye Kane and the All Worlds Video GoGo Boys. On the dance stage The Monicas and Chad Michaels will perform, and DJ Taj will be spinning along with a special guest DJ. There will also be a carnival-like area with street entertainers and an inflatable “bounce house” to add to the party atmosphere.

Tickets to the event are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the event, with adults 21 and older admitted.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the GSDBA Charitable Foundation scholarship fund. The GSDBA awards scholarships every June. Applications for them can be found by calling the GSDBA office, or at (619) 296-4543. For other links, visit this story online at gaylesbiantimes.com. Applications are also available at local colleges and universities and area high schools. The Hillcrest Association will use its proceeds for community improvements including street sweeping and security services for area businesses.

For a complete list of all of the GLBT Mardi Gras happenings in San Diego, check out this week’s feature about celebrating Mardi Gras, on page 40 of this issue.