In 1993, a group of folks who all loved to party and hang out at various beach bistros, became friends.  A few of these friends, Karen Cook Cowen and Bryan Denham became the 'movers and shakers' who felt the need to have all these friends form a new Mardi Gras Krewe. Thus they founded the 'Krewe of Animals'

The Krewe adopted the motto, Rude, Crude and Socially Un-acceptable.  The Krewe took great pride in their slogan and would meet monthly at different places.   The members consisted of business owners, bartenders, socialites, land developers, realtors, investors, blue collar workers and everything in between.  The same mix of all types of people and professions exist today.

In 1996 the Krewe of Animals began meeting at Banana Bobs on Pensacola Beach.  This soon became their permanent home. Sadly, Banana Bobs closed and to pay homage to the place they all loved, the Krewe decided to incorporate banana into their name and officially became the Krewe of Bananimals which is a mouthful to pronounce but is a result of our roots. The Krewe decided to have no rules as this might take away from all the parties and fun they had during not only the Mardi Gras season, but year round. With Banana Bobs closed, the new and prospering Krewe of Bananimals once again met at varying places. Finally, the Krewe decided to call home The Sabine Sand Bar which was owned by several charter members of the Krewe.

Membership of The Krewe of Bananimals comes from a wide variety of places including; Pensacola, Milton, Pace, Navarre, Gulf Breeze, Pensacola Beach, several locations in Alabama, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Michigan.

The Krewe of Bananimals is based on having fun and many lifetime friendships have been forged.  We are also a philanthropic Krewe donating time and money for many local charities; The Santa Rosa Kids House, Covenant Hospice, Camp Happy Sands, Capstone Academy, Magdalene's and several other deserving organizations. The Krewe assembles around 300 Easter and Halloween baskets full of treats for children. 

Our crowning event each year is our annual Mardi Gras Ball with the public invited to join in the fun!  Each year we elect a King and Queen who are formally introduced at this ball.

Our next largest event is the Pensacola Beach Mardi Gras Parade.  To ride our float, you have to be an 'active' member for at least 6 months, pay the float participant fee and sign up to ride when it comes available on our website.  Sign-ups are on a first come basis with no “special” privileges given to prior members, so everyone gets to ride, walk, crawl or whatever.

Our other events are far too numerous to list here, but feel free to watch out Website or Facebook page to find out what we are up to.