BATON ROUGE – With Mardi Gras in three weeks, the good times are about to start rolling.

Before then, two parades will kick off the party this weekend in Baton Rouge. For those building the floats, that means it’s crunch time.

“I love this part of the year. It’s what you work for all year,” Earl Comeaux said.

For the last seven years, Comeaux has been storing and designing floats in his warehouse in Plaquemine. The work, though fun, is turning into a year-long job.

“We start, if you can believe it, two weeks after Mardi Gras is over,” Comeaux said. “This year we have seven or eight new designs, and they're pretty nice floats.”

Each year some of the floats are restructured and repainted.

“There was a high demand for roofs after last year,” Comeaux said. “Many look like they are a double-decker, but they're actually a single with a roof.”

Comeaux started his own parade krewe, Comogo, honoring his sister who died of cancer. Rain made an appearance during the parade last year.

“It was wet and cold,” Comeaux said.

This year he’s hoping for the opposite. Many of his floats will be used in eight upcoming Mardi Gras parades in Plaquemine, Baton Rouge and Thibodaux. The first will be featured this Saturday in the inaugural Krewe of Oshun parade in Scotlandville.