PORTSMOUTH — Laissez les bons temps rouler! (Let the good times roll!)

To celebrate Fat Tuesday, check out these photos from Saturday night’s Mardi Gras party at the Common Fence Point Improvement Association Community Hall.

The event was a fund-raiser for the hall, which is being transformed into an arts center for the wider community. Nearly $2,000 was raised.

The event featured live music by The New 40 (band members donated their time), a photo booth that offered numerous Mardi Gras-related props, shadow dancing, more than 30 raffle prizes donated by local businesses and lots more fun.

Celebrants brought New Orleans-inspired dishes such as red beans and rice (here's the recipe), jambalaya and shrimp and grits for the potluck. 

In addition, they cut into a colorful Mardi Gras king cake that had a little plastic baby hidden inside. Becky Travers found the baby, and she was presented with a “Zulu golden nugget” (a brightly painted coconut), the most coveted prize that’s thrown to the crowd during Mardi Gras parades.

Judges also crowned J.R. Lynch and Sandy Urban-Lynch as the Mardi Gras king and queen for displaying the most spirit with their costumes.