Actor Val Kilmer, center, who will reign as this year's king of the Mardi Gras Krewe of Bacchus,... 
(AP)
With a brass band playing in the background, actor Val Kilmer signed autographs Friday for patients at Children's Hospital in New Orleans and handed out doubloons — popular souvenir coins thrown from floats during Carnival.
Kilmer, this year's King of Bacchus, is one of a host of celebrities in town for the big weekend leading up to Mardi Gras. Kilmer got the good times rolling with the visit to Louisiana's only full-service hospital dedicated to treating children.
It's a tradition held by every reigning Bacchus for more than 25 years.
"It's so exciting to be back in New Orleans," Kilmer said as he scribbled his autograph on a piece of paper. He recalled the weeks he spent in the city in 2006 for the filming of the movie "Deja Vu," which also starred Oscar winner Denzel Washington and Paula Patton.
"We had so much fun, blowing stuff up," Kilmer said, referring to a scene in the movie in which a ferry is blown up on the Mississippi River.
On a more serious note, Kilmer said he is happy to see that after more than two years, the city and its people have come a long way in their recovery from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
"There's such a great spirit among the people here," he said. "They are so real, so authentic, and it's lovely to be able to be around people who have that authenticity to them."
Though more than a dozen celebrities will be in town through Fat Tuesday, Kilmer has one of the busiest schedules. As Bacchus, he will be attending costume fittings and a private party in his honor, riding in the Bacchus parade Sunday night and then attending the Bacchus ball.
Kilmer said he is making his Mardi Gras experience a family affair. His two children — daughter Mercedes Kilmer and son Jack Kilmer, both teenagers from his relationship with ex-wife Joanne Whalley — were to arrive in New Orleans Friday night.
And Jack Kilmer is serving as a page on dad's float.
Other celebrities taking part in Mardi Gras are Kid Rock, Jim Belushi, Joan Rivers and Bryan Batt. In all, there will be more than a dozen singers, actors and comedians among the hundreds of thousands of revelers in town to see the more than a dozen Carnival krewes and glittery floats that will parade through New Orleans and its suburbs.
