HAMMOND, La. -

Louisiana’s 1st Choice Auto Auction will celebrate what’s arguably the state’s biggest holiday with its second annual Rockin’ Mardi Gras Party and Sale next week.

The two-day event, which will take place Monday and Tuesday, will include all the sights, music and food of Mardi Gras plus a 1,000-unit sale. It’s expected that buyers and sellers from all over the South will attend.

The action begins at 6 p.m. on Monday (Feb. 24) with the second annual Rockin’ Mardi Gras Party at Chesterton Square in nearby Ponchatoula.

The buffet will feature such Cajun cuisine as fried catfish, bacon-wrapped shrimp and crawfish pasta, topped off with traditional King Cake.  

Entertainment for the evening will be provided by a band well-known in the auction world, the Cronkites, who will be followed by popular New Orleans band Bag of Donuts.

Guests will be given Mardi Gras beads and all dealers will be entered into a $1,000 drawing and the chance to be crowned King of the Krewe of 1st Choice. Attendees will receive two free drinks at the bar.

The event will also include a photo booth with Mardi Gras props.

Then on Tuesday, the auction’s Rockin’ Mardi Gras Sale will kick off with a free breakfast followed by the first cars crossing the block at 8:30 a.m. The sale will included featured consignment from ARI and Credit Acceptance/VRS, in addition to a large run of select trades from area dealers including Ray Brandt Group, the Bohn Zone and Best Chevrolet.   

There will also be free lunch and King Cake served at the sale, and customers wearing their custom beads at the sale will earn $10,000 in “John Dough,” which is an LAFCAA customer rewards program.

John Poteet, LAFCAA’s managing partner, said: “Louisiana's 1st Choice Auto Auction's Rockin' Mardi Gras Party and Sale is now the premier auction event in south Louisiana. In just two short years of hosting this celebration we have established ourselves as the go-to provider of entertainment and vehicles in our region. 

“In Louisiana, Mardi Gras is not just a day … it's a season, it's a party, it's a way of life.  Our Rockin' Mardi Gras event epitomizes the essence of Mardi Gras.  I invite all our loyal dealers and consignors to ‘pass a good time’ with the Krewe of 1st Choice.”