Our Float: The Castle of Shenanigans
Rolling stone-by-stone since 2019
A Castle on Wheels
You hear the Castle of Shenanigans before you see it. The music rolls up the block, the stone towers swing around the corner, and there's our Leprechaun green skull grinning down over the Krewe crest that honors our 1999 founding. Then the beads start flying. Members ride up top and along the rails, showering the crowd the whole length of the route.
Since 2019 the castle has ruled the route at Gasparilla and the St. Patrick’s parade, and when the marching is done, it’s where the whole krewe gathers for the family photo. But the best part of the castle isn’t how it rolls. It’s how it was born.
☘ Ride With Us
Built by Our Own Hands in 2019
The Castle of Shenanigans didn't come from a catalog. Krewe members built it themselves, on weekends that started with coffee and lumber and ended with sawdust in everyone's hair. Members measured twice and cut once, and everybody got a little better every Saturday.
There was plenty to figure out along the way. How do you make a castle strong enough to carry a crew of bead-throwers, light enough to tow, and low enough to clear every wire on the route? Tower by tower and hinge by hinge, the crew engineered the answers: an amazing sound system, rails that hold, the bar, bathrooms, and our Leprechaun green skull that grins through any weather. Every problem found a fix, and every fix became a story.
Ask anyone who sanded a turret and they'll tell you the build was as much fun as the parade. We laughed, we debated the plans, we picked up skills we didn't know we had, and we grew closer with every coat of black paint. When the castle rolls down Bayshore and the crowd roars, every member who played a part feels the same swell of pride. We didn't just build a float. It built us.
