I just saw the band schedule for the first weekend of Mardi Gras. This weekend was supposed to feature local bands! However, you'll note that ONLY ONE out of the fourteen segments went to a local band; The Mambo Jazz Kings!!

I have sent the following letter to The Park Board, The Mayor and the Galveston County Daily News. If you are appalled by this, as I am, I suggest that you contact these people and complain, too! It isn't too late to force changes to this schedule!

Before Christina Woolwine left her position with The Park Board, we had a series of correspondence about changes to Mardi Gras to make it more enjoyable, and more profitable. The three main suggestions that I made about the Entertainment District were:

1. Take down the fence, and make the admission free. This would increase attendance, and stop locking people out of downtown Galveston who want to patronize businesses, in that area, without paying a toll charge to get in.   

2. Have the bands play three or four hour segments instead of only one hour. This would reduce a lot of the down time created when one band tears down its equipment, and the next one sets up; AND it would reduce costs with fewer bands.

3. Use mostly local bands, and only a handful of outside headliners. This would allow Galveston to showcase its local talent, to Mardi Gras visitors, and reduce the costs of bringing in two dozen or more bands from other locations.


I was encouraged, when I heard that this year the first weekend of Mardi Gras was going to be admission free, feature local bands, and that each band would play about an hour and a half! This is a step in the right direction! However, I was horrified when I saw that The Park Board’s definition of a weekend devoted to local entertainment featured ONLY ONE LOCAL BAND!!

The first weekend lists 14 bands (far too many, once again!), and the Mambo Jazz Kings are the ONLY LOCAL BAND out of the fourteen!

What happened to: The Bert Wills Band, Broken Spoke, Double Ought, Dreadneck, Fuzzbox Junkies, Goat, The Line Up, Lostt, Melovine, The Mike Kelly Group, Natural Groove, Roy Lee Nelson & Unfinished Business, The Skinnies, The Skip Devlin Band, Squishy Peach, Tomz Katz Band, and Viva Los Chuez?

What is going on at The Park Board? Are you unaware that we have more than one local band? The list can be found on my web site at: http://www.galvestonmusicscene.com/Bands.html

In addition to that, there are several bands that could have been used that are based just over the Causeway, but still reside in Galveston County, such as:

3 Peace, Bare Necessity, Gary Lee & Sneak Preview, Houx, Kicking Klouds, Lawst Dogz, Magazine, Nitewave, Reyna & Texas Select, TP & the Emergency, and Wiseguy!!

I apologize in advance if I inadvertently forgot to list a band, that should have been included, but I don’t see how The Park Board could have targeted one weekend for local entertainment and included ONLY ONE LOCAL band out of fourteen choices!



Best regards,


David Stanowski