Help please... school presentation

Google the history of Mardi Gras- I'm sure there's some good stuff.

You could also talk about how the floats didn't used to have their own lighting, so they had men walking with flaming torches next to them to cast light on to the floats. Those guys were called flambeaux (flambeau when singular).

Some of the parades still have those guys as a tradition, but with lights on the floats they are no longer necessary. Kind of a cool history though.