(Seguin) — Beads, barbecue and big-ticket prizes are back this week as the Seguin Education Foundation hosts its annual Mardi Gras celebration.
Tickets for the 2026 Mardi Gras Celebration are still available. The event will be held this Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Seguin Coliseum. Tickets are $50 each.
Jill Nash, executive director of the Seguin Education Foundation, says the event plays a critical role in helping educators bring creative ideas to life that traditional budgets simply can’t cover.
“Mardi Gras gives us an opportunity to give back in the form of a grant to our campus, the departments and our students so what that looks like is our teachers have many many innovative ideas that don’t happen to fall within the budget and so we are able to fund those absolutely amazing ideas such as Dinosaur George that we brought to the district. We’ve also built bicycles for Ball (Early Childhood Center) for our little Matadors,” said Nash.
Steve Parker, SEF board member, says this year’s celebration will once again feature plenty of fun and additional ways to give back.
“We do have Burnt Bean Barbecue. That’s a big selling point and it really boosted our ticket sales last year and we went with it again and then throughout the course of the night, there will be music. There will be different varieties of games, some great live and silent auction items. We are always reaching out to the community and asking if they have live and selection auction items and if they would like to be a part of that because that’s an easy way to donate $30-$40 and turn that into $100-$120 by having a live auction or a silent auction item and so we have that throughout the night,” said Parker.
One of the most popular events of the evening will again be the limited “Golden Ticket” raffle which gives participants the chance to win a trip of their choice.
SEF Board Member, Bryan Sphan says he encourages supporters not to wait to purchase their tickets.
“You get to choose from four trips. One of them is a Tuscany, Italy trip with six nights and a private apartment. You get a cooking demo and wine tasting – a Kentucky Bourbon experience, three nights, distillery tours, private transportation and a (Jeff) Ruby Steakhouse dinner. You can also go to Costa Rica for five nights so there are only 100 tickets available so don’t wait. Go online now. Go buy them. We are hoping we sell out before we even get there,” said Spahn.
Also, on the available list of trips to choose from is a three-night Nashville Opry getaway which includes hotel plus tickets to Grand Ole Opry.
Tickets and sponsorships can be purchased through the Seguin Education Foundation website or via its Facebook page.