So here’s the challenge, as we approach Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas, which opens in Port Arthur on Thursday: Are you a party animal or not? Some folks talk a good game, others play one.

That might be tested by a problematic yet uneven forecast that arrived Monday: Storms on Thursday, sunny Friday, rain on Saturday, storms on Sunday. That’s what the weather forecasters said.

Of course, that was Monday’s outlook, which might change a dozen times between now and 6 p.m. Thursday, when the Lamar State College Port Arthur parade sets out from the Carl A. Parker Multipurpose Center. Be brave.

Laura Childress of Mardi Gras Southeast Texas said she’d checked the Farmer’s Almanac weeks out, which suggested sunny skies and warm-enough temperatures. What else can you do, weeks away?

“Last year it was rainy early and it tamped down attendance,” she said. “But we are optimistic about good crowds and good weather this year.”

So are we. Fate would not treat Port Arthur so cruelly two years running.

The 2018 event was bedeviled by rain although, at other times, the weather was tolerable. The trick is to be prepared — rain gear, towels, umbrellas and changes of clothes, packed in the car — to hold your ground should weather go south. And remember: When crowds are thin, beads come in bunches.

This 27^th version of Mardi Gras in Port Arthur — “Color Me Carnival” is the theme — promises to be a premier event. In addition to Thursday’s opening parade, others will roll from the seawall downtown at 7 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. Inside the gates, parades will roll at 2 p.m. Saturday, 2 and 3 Sunday.

NFL runningback and Port Arthur Memorial alum Jamaal Charles will lead the Total Krewe of Aurora Grand Parade as grand marshal on Saturday evening, a rare opportunity for local people to see Charles without a helmet and moving at human speed. That should be a treat.

So should the offerings inside the fence, where a new price structure should prove family friendly. A zydeco stage has been added — zydeco and Mardi Gras make for a happy marriage here, Childress said — and DeAndre Nico, a local who earned plaudits on The Voice in 2018, will perform Saturday.

We expect great things this week through Sunday, as Mardi Gras is unveiled downtown and around Procter Street. Organizers have made all necessary preparations to provide people in Greater Port Arthur and beyond with a four-day special occasion. The city, too, has extended itself to make this event Port Arthur special.

If you don’t embrace the celebration, it will pass you by like a fast-moving float. Pack the kids. Grandma, too.

Throw me something, Mister!