KATRINA COULDN'T KILL MARDI GRAS
Abbreviated parades roll in N.O.
to smaller but enthusiastic crowds

From the New Orleans Times-Picayune:

Thin crowds and a rapid stream of floats from several downsized parades made for an abbreviated burst of Carnival activity Saturday in New Orleans.

Chilly temperatures and overcast skies did little to add a sense of festivity to the first day of the city's condensed 2006 parade season. But thousands of hardy celebrants made the best of the situation, many of them happy simply to have Carnival back at all.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the city reduced this year's parade schedule to eight days -- two days this weekend and six straight days starting Thursday -- and booked parades one after another on most days, all following the traditional Uptown route along St. Charles Avenue.

The krewes of Pontchartrain, Shangri-La, Pygmalion, Knights of Sparta and Pegasus paraded Saturday.

Click here for the rest.

The Big Easy really needs this: Mardi Gras is celebrated throughout Louisiana, and in other states, but only in New Orleans does it fully flower into a true world class Carnival. It is one of many aspects that makes the Crescent City unique. Pushing through with the parades and celebrations this year is a statement to the world that New Orleans will not die.

I've never done Mardi Gras in N.O. before. Maybe Becky and I'll take the hour and a half drive there next weekend to scramble for beads.


Hand crafted leather Mardi Gras masks sit in a Decatur Street shop last May waiting for February. Did they make it through the chaos after Katrina? I don't know.

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