Some folks have a festive way to celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Mardi Gras revelers will lift their hands for beads and kick up their heels to dance at Twelfth Night on Saturday, when the Royal Krewe of Neptune hosts the official Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas kickoff.

Linda Hebert of Neptune says this party has come together quickly, but krewes are ready to show their green, gold and purple.

“It’s the first party of the year,” Hebert said.

The public dance will be from 6:30 p.m. to 11 a.m. at the  Robert A. “Bob” Bowers Civic Center off Texas 73. Tickets will be  $15 for a table seat and $5 for a chair seat. For information, call Hebert at 962-9860.

Twelfth Night is traditionally Jan. 6, said to be the time when the Three Wise Men reached the baby Jesus after his Christmas birth. It’s also traditionally the time to take Christmas decorations down.

This year the date was a Thursday, so Neptune folk moved the party to Saturday.  Dana Melancon will be master of ceremonies for Twelfth Night, which is more casual than a ball. It’s the party where everyone — krewe member or not — can show up to catch beads. Krewes parade royalty from previous seasons.

It’s the last chance for the public to see 2010 costumes from all the various krewes which will march on Saturday, Hebert said.

The actual festival is set for March 3-6 in downtown Port Arthur.

“Let’s Dance!” is the festival’s theme. Kevin Fowler, Wayne Toups and ZydeCajun, Dwayne Dopsie & the Hellraisers, Barry Badon and the Bayou Boys and Ryan Foret and Foret Tradition will be among performers.

Krewes, Get in the News

Krewes, throw us your fun photos for the News Mardi Gras section.

Games People Play is the theme for Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas, which will be March 3-6, 2011, in downtown Port Arthur. “Let’s Dance” is the theme.

The News will incorporate Krewe photos of balls, parties, charitable activities and royalty into the annual festival guide. Send high resolution photos in jpg format to ddoiron@panews.com.

Include cutline information to explain what is going on in the photo and who is in it, named from left.

No photo? Just send us a paragraph or two with your krewe news, royal court member names or a short update explaining what clubs have been up to all year. Include contact numbers or Web sites so that readers may sign up to join krewes.

The deadline to submit is noon on Friday, Feb.11.

ddoiron@panews.com