Universal Studios cranked up its annual Mardi Gras celebration on Saturday. Here are a few pictures of the parade, mostly of the new floats, which represent the elements of earth, wind, fire and water. My little camera doesn’t excel at nighttime parade shoots. Blame low lighting and crazed bead collectors — but maybe you’ll get the idea.

An elephant with gold-tipped tusks (trust me) is the centerpiece of the earth float.

Wind is front by a colorful bird, followed by a hot-air balloon and a windy face that blows a special effect (not shown here).

 Fire is bright red, a bit menacing and has bursts of flame upfront, a first for Universal Mardi Gras.

Water has an array of sea creatures, but the high point may be up top: lights that “drip” water from a shell.

 BONUS: The music float, which isn’t new, but has a new addition: a large guitar with lights for strings.

The new floats have accompanying stilt characters that are also new to Universal. These folks walk around well before the parade (8 p.m. step-off) and make for fun photo ops. Here are a few pictures:

A lion is part of earth’s menagerie.

Winged creatures go with the wind float.

Fire.

And finally, sea horses set to march with the Water float.