Zulu reigns again!

By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer

The costumes and coconuts, the floats and the music, the coronation of King and Queen Zulu, and of course the parade – all once again took place during Mardi Gras 2025, thanks to the dedicated work of the hundreds of members of the renowned Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club and its world-famous Mardi Gras Krewe of Zulu.

“It’s always a busy time of year,” said Zulu Club director of public relations Darren Mire, in just a bit of an understatement.

The Zulu Club, now in its 115th year, continues to put on its parade, the very first of which was held in 1909.

During all the festivities, the spotlight was on the Zulu king and queen, prestigious titles that are bestowed each year on two people whose lifelong records of achievement and community involvement are honored throughout the days leading up to Mardi Gras.

This year’s king and queen are the husband-and-wife duo Rodney P. Mason Jr. and Kristen Bonds Mason, both natives of the Crescent City.

Rodney Mason Jr., 2025’s King Zulu, is the son of Janis B. and Rodney P. Mason Sr. and grew up in the eastern section of New Orleans. He is a committed parishioner of St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church; he says his faith is the foundation of his life and guides him each day.

Rodney Jr. is a passionate, accomplished trumpet player who, while attending St. Augustine High School, was a trumpet section leader in the school’s Marching 100. He attended Alabama A&M University, where he was a member of the Marching Maroon & White Band, and his accomplishments as a trumpeter were recognized by his membership in Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity.

Rodney Jr. is employed by the City of New Orleans in the Capital Projects Administration, where he’s part of a team that plans and manages the city’s construction and structure restoration projects. He grew up surrounded by the Zulu Club because his father was a club member beginning in 1979 and instilled in his son the ideals and traditions of Zulu; Rodney said he is forever grateful for his father’s paternal efforts.

Rodney Jr. became a club member in 2006 at the age of 21, and he has held numerous different positions and played an array of roles in Zulu, both before and after he gained membership. Because of his career and personal accomplishments, his community involvement, and his dedication to Zulu, he was named the 109th King Zulu.

As Queen Zulu for 2025, Kristen Bonds Mason is likewise being honored by the club for her service to the community and her personal and career accomplishments. The daughter of Rhonda S. Bonds and Robert B. Bonds Jr., Kristen values the ties that bind in families and has always been attentive to the younger generations of the Bonds family.

Kristen was raised in Uptown New Orleans and, like her husband, is a faithful parishioner of St. Katherine Drexel Catholic Church, where she is also of the full gospel choir. She is a talented choir soloist and is now leader of St. Katherine Drexel Young Adult Choir. For Kristen, music is intrinsic to her faith and her relationship with God, things she values dearly.

Kristen attended McDonogh 35 High School in New Orleans, then earned a bachelor of science degree from Southern University in Baton Rouge, followed by a master’s degree in public health from Kaplan University.

She now works as a health physicist, a profession that few know about but that plays a key role in the safety and security of the public by preventing radiation-induced illness and other harmful consequences to people as well the environment. She now performs inspections at facilities that include and work with radioactive materials, and she travels the country giving instruction to others in the field of health physics.

In addition to her community involvement and career achievements, Kristen is a lifelong, dedicated dancer; she strives to combine her love for dance with her passion for Mardi Gras and the culture of New Orleans. She is a member of the Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale, which she joined in 2021, and she also performs with the Cherchez La Femme dance krewe and is a member of the Sunkissed Femmes.

King and Queen Zulu were honored at the club’s grand annual coronation ball, held last Friday at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. The ball included performances by several national recording artists like SWV and Jeffrey Osborne.

Queen Zulu was supported by her Zulu maids, also a coveted accolade and role, and the king and queen were as well as the King and Queen were accompanied by the men and women members of their 2025 Entourage.

The festivities continued with Zulu’s annual Lundi Gras Festival, held all day along the riverfront at Woldenberg Park in the French Quarter. The celebration includes a full slate of musical performances, as well as food, arts and crafts and appearances by several characters for the 2025 festival, including Zulu Big Shot, Zulu Witch Doctor, Zulu Ambassador, Zulu mayor and others.

The celebrations culminated with the internationally known Krewe of Zulu parade, which stepped off at 8 a.m. on March 4, beginning at the intersection of S. Claiborne and Jackson avenues and marching through Uptown and Central City and winding its way from there through Treme and concluding at the intersection of Orleans Avenue and Broad Street.

Mire said this year’s parade featured 43 floats, including a dozen new ones, as well as marching bands from four HBCUs and several local and out-of-town high schools. And, of course, parade-goers saw the colorful costumes of the parade marchers and were able to catch the famed painted coconuts given out to the crowds.

The entire array of festivities and performances offered by the club during Mardi Gras season each year, every one of Zulu’s 800 members, all volunteers, plays a vital role in making sure the club’s celebration goes off without a hitch and entertains the thousands of jubilant crowds who fill the city as Fat Tuesday approaches.

“We do our job and rely on each other and help each other,” Mire said of the intense production process. We work together to put on these productions for the people.”

While Mardi Gras is doubtlessly the centerpiece of Zulu’s annual calendar, Mire notes that the club remains active year round, especially when it comes to community service. He points to Zulu’s Toys for Tots operation during the winter holiday season, plus activities like bestowing several scholarships and distributing school supplies.

“We do a lot more [besides Mardi Gras] throughout the year,” Mire said. “We’re important to the city because we do our work 365 days of the year.”

This article originally published in the March 3, 2025 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.