Actor Ian Somerhalder
Actor Ian Somerhalder arrives at ABC's "Lost" Live: The Final Celebration at UCLA Royce Hall in Los Angeles, May 13, 2010. Reuters/Danny Moloshok

The annual dog parade called “Mardi Paws” is scheduled to take place in February 2016 with “The Vampire Diaries” actor Ian Somerhalder as one of the Celebrity Grand Monarchs. Somerhalder’s wife, “Twilight” actress Nikki Reed, will also take part in the upcoming event in Mandeville, Louisiana.

According to Nola, the 2016 Mardi Paws parade will take place on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, along the Mandeville Lakefront. Somerhalder continues to have an active involvement with the north shore community in Louisiana where he grew up.

Mystic Krewe of Mardi Paws captain Denise Gutnisky told Nola that the Ian Somerhalder Foundation (ISF) will be the main beneficiary of the upcoming parade. Gutnisky added that the future plans of ISF could involve making the Mardi Paw parade worldwide.

“The hope is to make it a permanent partnership to support his (Somerhalder's) vision of his sanctuary on the north shore,” Gutnisky stated.

Gutnisky further shared that she sees the possibility of New Orleans’ dog festival being handed over to Somerhalder because the 37-year-old actor’s foundation supports animal welfare as well as environmental issues. Since 1995, the parade has already attracted different sponsors.

Also read: 'The Vampire Diaries' season 7 spoilers: Ian Somerhalder teases Damon Salvatore and Civil War in episode 10

Additionally, the Mardi Paws parade’s proceeds have benefited a number of charitable causes. The upcoming parade’s theme will be called “Mardi Gras 2016: Love is in the Hair.”

The official announcement on the parade’s additional beneficiaries, sponsors and the Mardi Paws royalty, which is usually a photogenic, four-legged court consisting of a king and a queen, is yet to be made. However, people who are interested to take part in the 2016 Mardi Paws parade can learn more about the upcoming event and register at Mardipaws.com.

Also read: Ian Somerhalder: 'The Vampire Diaries' actor encourages people to raise voices on gun violence issue, teases on CW TV series’ new season

Meanwhile, “The Vampire Diaries” (TVD) fans will be seeing more of Somerhalder as vampire Damon Salvatore in the second-half episodes of season 7. Entertainment Weekly’s (EW) Spoiler Room report claims that TVD viewers will find out about Damon’s past through the Civil War flashback scenes in “The Vampire Diaries” Season 7, episode 10 titled “Hell Is Other People.”

The report further teased that Damon will be nearly in every scene or in every episode of the second part of “The Vampire Diaries” Season 7.

The CW TV series is scheduled to return with a new episode and airing schedule which starts on Friday night, Jan. 29, at 8/7c.

RELATED STORIES