The parade floats won’t be rolling during New Orleans’ 2021 Mardi Gras.
Although parades are canceled, some form of celebration will likely go ahead
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell has asked for public feedback to suggest how it can hold physically distanced safe celebrations.
As infections continue to rise, the city has a 250-person limit on outdoor crowds.
You can’t have traditional parades with that small a group," said city spokesman Beau Tidwell.
"We have had nearly 1,000 new cases over the past 10 days," he said.
"Mardi Gras 2021 is not canceled. It is going to look different. The mayor has been very consistent about saying that at every stage. While we certainly want to move forward and find ways that we can celebrate, and we can mark this occasion, we have to do it safely," Tidwell added.
Mardi Gras is scheduled for 16 February 2021.
The 2020 festival, which took place as the Covid pandemic started spreading in late February, generated about $145 million for the city of New Orleans.
Last year’s Mardi Gras event was possibly a factor in an early spike of Covid-19 cases in the region, the CDC said at the time.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US Editor
