*Editor’s Note: 5:00 p.m. Feb. 28 – This story has been edited throughout.

Ware Commons brought the spirit of Mardi Gras to campus with the third annual Krewe du Ware celebration on Saturday, Feb. 25.

Members of the SMU community gathered on the quad in front of Ware Commons to let the good times roll, complete with crawfish, live jazz music and impressive performers. The event provided food, friendship and New Orleans-style entertainment to hundreds of students, faculty and guests, officials said. Samiat Okoya, a resident assistant and one of the event coordinators, said she looked forward to enjoying a variety of activities.

“You’ll see that we have king cake, beignets and crawfish. We have a face painter and we have a fire breather, sword swallower and a live band,” Okoya said.

Katie Williams, an SMU junior, said she was excited to attend the event for the first time.

“The food looks awesome and the entertainment is really fun,” Williams said. “It’s fun for kids to be out here who couldn’t go to New Orleans and still feel like they can celebrate Mardi Gras a little bit.”

Okoya said that in previous years, over 500 people had attended the event and the organizers have been working since December to make it even better in 2017. Maddie Nerad, the traditions chair on the Ware Commons Council, said that she hoped the new Krewe du Ware court would engage the community.

Nerad said that residents nominated a man and woman from each floor for the court, and then voted on who should be elected king and queen. The nominees participated in spirit contests during the week and the winners were announced at the event. This year’s king and queen are third floor residents Karen Folz and Chris Stenzel.

Okoya is proud of Krewe du Ware and how the event has grown over the past three years.

“This is our annual celebration,” Okoya said. “It’s a huge staple in our Ware tradition.”