ORLANDO, Fla. — The streets of Universal Studios Florida are bustling again with the sights and sounds of Mardi Gras.

The party, which kicked off Saturday and runs through April 24, marks the return of live concerts and the Mardi Gras parade—both of which were absent last year because of the pandemic. There's also a menu of food and drinks inspired by New Orleans and flavors from around the world.

The concerts are back on select nights. Sugar Ray kicked things off Saturday. Other artists on the lineup include Diana Ross, Barenaked Ladies, Marshmello and Jason Derulo.

All the concerts start at 8:30 p.m. at Music Plaza Stage.

The Mardi Gras parade has also returned on select nights. Last year, in the absence of a full scale parade, Universal put the floats on display around the park. A number of performers and dancers were stationed on them, distributing beads to visitors.

But now, the parade is back and features a new theme: Planet Mardi Gras. The theme, which mixes space, aliens, planets and other "out of this world" elements, is featured on six new floats.

It's an idea the Universal team has been sitting on since 2020.

"We were in New Orleans and had this awesome idea," said Blake Braswell, senior show director. "We saw the pieces. We got back to our hotel for about a day and a half looking at all the stuff. We wrote down the names of all the floats and the storyline that would tie them together. And then we got on our plane and landed in Orlando to find out we were going to shut down in a week for two weeks."

The costumes have a retro-space vibe (think 60s and 70s sci-fi) as well as electrical elements. It's the first time that all the themed costumes for the parade will light up.

The props came from New Orleans-based Kern Studios, the company that has designed and created Mardi Gras parades for Universal for many years.

Universal also took the opportunity to refresh some of the traditional Mardi Gras floats. The New Orleans music float was spruced up and front of the the King and Queen float was completely redone, according to Blaswell.

What would a Mardi Gras party be without food? Across the park, food booths are serving up traditional fare such as crawfish, po'boys, beignets, and king cake. But there are also international dishes on the menu, including shrimp laksa and tomato basil arancini.

The Planet Mardi Gras theme also extends to the food booths. There's the Machine Planet booth with creole crab beignets and ice cream bubble waffles. The Floral Planet-themed booth, decorated with flowers and plants, serves up vegetarian and vegan options.

In previous years, Universal has offered tasting lanyards. This year, the resort is offering a food and beverage card that can be used to purchase items. For $65, visitors can get a card worth $75. For $120, they can get a card worth $150. The cards do not expire, according to Universal.

The Universal Orlando Resort hotels are also offering their own special menus during Mardi Gras.

For Mardi Gras merchandise and souvenirs such as mask, beads and T-shirts, head to the Tribute Store. The theme this year is "Float Factory", and each room features designs and models, paying homage to the process behind building a parade float.

Universal's Mardi Gras is included with Universal Studios Florida admission.

The celebration comes amid other festivals at parks such as Epcot with its Festival of the Arts and SeaWorld Orlando with its Seven Seas Food Festival.