The COVID-19 pandemic nixed plans for the official New Orleans’ Mardi Gras celebration this year, but New Orleanians found another way to celebrate—decorating their homes like floats.

New Orleans resident Megan Boudreaux helped kick off the trend when she tweeted the idea: “Turn your house into a float and throw all the beads from your attic at neighbors walking by.” She then formed the Krewe of House Floats, a site that offers a map to addresses for residents to view a parade of decorated houses. More than 3,000 houses decorated as floats.

Homeowners heeded the call, adding lights, balloons, beads, giant dinosaur statues, and more to their houses, helping transform 2021 Mardi Gras into “Yardi Gras” this year.

We were so proud to recognize #KreweOfHouseFloats founder Megan Boudreaux today for her incredible efforts to keep the spirit of #MardiGras alive through #COVID19. Check out the official 2021 @HouseFloats map to find participating homes near you at https://t.co/850jXHVAVC! pic.twitter.com/vhy9LEH4Qu

— NOLACityCouncil (@NOLACityCouncil) February 11, 2021

Yesterday, 16th February, saw Mardi Gras in New Orleans celebrated differently. Over 3,000 houses were decorated as floats through the project by the @HouseFloats. And the results were astounding!#celebration #mardisgras #art #community #kreweofhousefloats @EventSafety4All pic.twitter.com/bFyFw2JhBo

— UKCMA (@_UKCMA_) February 17, 2021

You can't keep New Orleans down. In lockdown, in frigid weather, the locals turned Mardi Gras 2021 into #YardiGras, with #housefloats. Go NOLA! [via @andyknola] pic.twitter.com/riIdxgETnw

— Steve Silberman (@stevesilberman) February 16, 2021

View a slideshow at AVClub.com of more of the house decorations or check out the homes on Twitter using the hashtag #YardiGras.