New Orleans’ 2023 Mardi Gras parade routes to stay short
October 15, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Fans of New Orleans' Mardi Gras season can expect another year of shortened parade routes.
The Mayor's Mardi Gras Advisory Council said Thursday that the shorter routes of 2022 will continue in 2023, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
Coroner: Fentanyl, alcohol killed South Carolina student
April 22, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Alcohol and the powerful opioid fentanyl killed a student from South Carolina who was left at a hospital after watching parades 10 days before Mardi Gras, the Orleans Parish Coroner's Office reported Thursday.
New Orleans lifts proof-of-vaccine rule for bars, eateries
March 21, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Bars, restaurants and other businesses in New Orleans are no longer required to make patrons show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative test for the disease, the city said Monday in a news release.
Police: 10 wounded in shooting following Mardi Gras parade
March 3, 2022 GMTBOGALUSA, La. (AP) — Ten people were wounded in a shooting following a Mardi Gras parade in eastern Louisiana and a man has been arrested on charges including attempted first-degree murder, police said.
2 Mardi Gras season visitors slain in separate shootings
March 2, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Stray bullets in separate shootings killed two people visiting New Orleans for the festivities leading up to Mardi Gras: a 15-year-old girl from Texas and a 33-year-old South Carolina man.
‘I love Mardi Gras’: Carnival spirit takes over New Orleans
March 1, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Revelers decked out in traditional purple, green and gold came out to party on Fat Tuesday in New Orleans’ first full-dress Mardi Gras since 2020 after the coronavirus pandemic canceled last year's festivities.
MoonPies and Merry Widows: Mardi Gras hits Mobile, Alabama
February 27, 2022 GMTMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Alabama’s port city danced and squealed to the prime event of its Carnival season on Sunday, a quirky bash honoring the man credited with helping make the nation’s first Mardi Gras celebration what it is — a smaller, toned-down version of New Orleans' mega-party.
Mardi Gras Indian chief prepares for Fat Tuesday and Grammys
February 27, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — This time of year, there's really only one place you'll find Big Chief Joseph “Monk” Boudreaux: in his New Orleans house sewing beadwork with needle and thread as he puts together the elaborate outfits worn by the city's famed Mardi Gras Indians.
Carnival in time of COVID: Virus tests among parade favors
February 24, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mardi Gras revelers, accustomed to catching beads, small toys or other trinkets tossed by parade float riders during Carnival season, were able to snag a new parade favor Thursday: rapid COVID-19 tests.
New Orleans officials excited, cautious as Fat Tuesday nears
February 14, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — One year after the coronavirus pandemic forced a parade-free, quiet Mardi Gras in New Orleans, city officials Monday touted preparations in place for a return to the big parades and festivities expected over the next two weeks ahead of Fat Tuesday.
Mobile, Alabama, kicks off 1st Mardi Gras since 2020
February 12, 2022 GMTMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — The city that calls itself the “birthplace of Mardi Gras” kicked off its first real Mardi Gras celebration since 2020 after two years that were lost to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mobile's first big parade of the Mardi Gras season was held Friday night, as the Conde Cavaliers rolled through the city.
Suits target New Orleans virus rules, some affect Mardi Gras
February 2, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — More than 100 people have joined a lawsuit against New Orleans’ mayor and health director over COVID-19 restrictions that recently were extended to parade and other participants on Mardi Gras and during the season leading up to it.
Health official bows out of Mardi Gras parade; cites threats
January 25, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans’ health director says she won’t take part in one of the earliest parades of the Mardi Gras season, citing threats over the city's resumption of COVID-19 restrictions to combat the highly contagious omicron variant.
New Orleans brewery sales to aid Mardi Gras Indian groups
January 25, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans’ oldest working brewery is selling 12-packs of beer and a poster to benefit an organization of Mardi Gras Indian organizations — neighborhood groups of Black people who make elaborate costumes in a tradition going back to the 1800s.
As Mardi Gras nears, New Orleans brings back mask mandate
January 11, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans will reinstitute an indoor mask mandate to fight the spread of COVID-19 while readying for an influx of visitors for the Mardi Gras season, the city health director said Tuesday.
Mardi Gras rolling on Mississippi coast despite virus surge
January 10, 2022 GMTBILOXI, Miss. (AP) — Plans are moving ahead to hold Mardi Gras parties and parades on the Mississippi coast despite a surge in COVID-19 cases linked to the highly contagious omicron variant.
Large gatherings are the surest way to transmit the illness, health officials say, so the area's upcoming slate of parades, balls and Mardi Gras celebrations are likely to spread the virus, the Sun-Herald reported.
A season of joy -- and caution -- kicks off in New Orleans
January 7, 2022 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Vaccinated, masked and ready-to-revel New Orleans residents began ushering in Carnival season Thursday with a rolling party on the city's historic streetcar line, an annual march honoring Joan of Arc in the French Quarter and a collective, wary eye on coronavirus statistics.
Fewer police, medics, so Mardi Gras parade routes shortened
December 21, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans is shortening parade routes for the upcoming Mardi Gras season because there are fewer police officers, medics and other first responders to handle the crowds, officials said Tuesday.
Higgins to skip Washington Mardi Gras because of COVID rules
November 30, 2021 GMTBATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — One of Louisiana's congressmen won't be attending the Washington Mardi Gras festivities put on by the state's congressional delegation early next year.
The Advocate reports that Republican U.S.
90-year sentence tossed in 2019 Mardi Gras bicyclist deaths
November 6, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana appeals court has thrown out the 90-year prison sentence for a drunken driver who struck nine bicycle riders near a Mardi Gras parade route in March 2019, killing two of them.
As pandemic fades, Mobile planning 2022 Mardi Gras
November 6, 2021 GMTMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — With cases of COVID-19 on the decline yet still less than half the state's residents fully vaccinated, plans are underway for next year's Mardi Gras celebration in Mobile with parades, float and balls.
New Orleans drops mask mandate as coronavirus numbers fall
October 27, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans is largely ending a mandate requiring residents and visitors wear masks indoors as infections of the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continue to fall, the city's mayor announced Wednesday.
Boo! Thousands crowd New Orleans streets for 1st parade
October 24, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The high school bands played, the costumed marching groups danced and float riders threw Moon Pies and beads to the thousands of people who turned out Saturday for New Orleans' first big parade since the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic put the brakes on the city's signature brand of frivolity.
Mardi Gras 2022: House floats? Yes. Parades? Maybe.
October 9, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The group behind the wave of houses decorated to look like floats during this year's pandemic-curtailed Mardi Gras is continuing the tradition in 2022 while the mayor weighs whether to allow parades during the upcoming Carnival season.
1st cruise ship docks in Puerto Rico since pandemic began
August 3, 2021 GMTSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Carnival Mardi Gras docked Tuesday in Puerto Rico — the first time a cruise ship has visited the U.S. territory since the pandemic began.
As pandemic ebbs, Alabama city throws ‘Tardy Gras’ parade
May 23, 2021 GMTMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Thousands of joyful revelers, many without masks, competed for plastic beads and trinkets tossed from floats as Alabama's port city threw a Mardi Gras-style parade Friday night, its first since Carnival celebrations were scrapped earlier this year by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Muted Mardi Gras: Closed bars, barricaded Bourbon Street
February 17, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Music blared from the courtyard of a French Quarter restaurant on Mardi Gras morning but nobody was there to hear it until Tom Gibson and Sheila Wheeler of Philadelphia walked out of their hotel’s nearly empty lobby...
The Latest: Mardi Gras muted in New Orleans by coronavirus
February 13, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS — New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic...
Fat Tuesday crowds in Mobile a threat for spreading virus
February 13, 2021 GMTMOBILE, Ala. (AP) — Health officials and leaders in Mobile are urging people to follow pandemic safety guidelines as a subdued Mardi Gras season comes to an end on the coast minus big parades but with crowds still possible.
Virus-muffled Mardi Gras hits New Orleans’ party-loving soul
February 13, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus's spread...
Police emphasize clampdown on crowds as Mardi Gras nears
February 13, 2021 GMTCrowds are usually welcome and even encouraged in tourist-dependent New Orleans in the days leading up to Mardi Gras but as the final weekend of the 2021 season began Friday, police warned that crowds won't be tolerated amid efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus...
Virus dims Carnival joy and commerce on a New Orleans street
February 10, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — During last year's Carnival season, tourists at the Elysian Fields Inn gathered over breakfast to talk about parades from the night before...
No Mardi Gras parades, so thousands make ‘house floats’
January 27, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — You just can’t keep a good city down, especially when Mardi Gras is coming.
All around New Orleans, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus outbreak canceled the elaborate parades mobbed by crowds during the Carnival season leading to Fat Tuesday...
Pandemic-era Mardi Gras: No big crowds, but plenty of cake
January 7, 2021 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A subdued Carnival season began Wednesday after the coronavirus pandemic put an end to the crowd-heavy balls and street parades that draw thousands of people to the city every year...
New Orleans: Coronavirus nixes Mardi Gras-season parades
November 17, 2020 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The raucous Mardi Gras parades where riders on elaborate floats toss trinkets to adoring throngs have been canceled in New Orleans because the close-packed crowds could spread the novel coronavirus...
Blaine Kern Sr., New Orleans’ ‘Mr. Mardi Gras,’ dies at 93
June 26, 2020 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Blaine Kern Sr., a float builder who was often credited with helping expand New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebration into a giant event known worldwide, has died...
New Orleans celebrates end of Mardi Gras touched by tragedy
February 25, 2020 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Dressed in sequined costumes, grooving to the rhythm of marching bands and clutching at strands of shiny beads, people in New Orleans celebrated the end of a Mardi Gras season tinged by tragedy after two bystanders were killed by floats in the days leading up to Fat Tuesday...
2nd person in days killed by Mardi Gras float in New Orleans
February 24, 2020 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A man was struck and killed by a Mardi Gras float during a raucous weekend street parade in New Orleans, becoming the second person in days killed along a parade route during this year's Carnival season, authorities said...
Woman struck and killed by Mardi Gras float during parade
February 20, 2020 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — New Orleans is mourning the death of a woman who was run over by a parade float as the city celebrates the season leading up to Mardi Gras...
Child given doll with noose at Mississippi Mardi Gras parade
February 17, 2020 GMTBILOXI, Miss. (AP) — A 12-year-old-girl received a black doll with beads forming a noose around its neck at a Mississippi Gulf Coast Mardi Gras parade, and officials said Monday that police were investigating the incident as a hate crime...
Moon river: Rocket part ferried on the mighty Mississippi
January 8, 2020 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — With a brass band playing and a parade of workers sporting Mardi Gras beads, a huge component of a new rocket system was wheeled slowly from a New Orleans spacecraft factory on Wednesday to a barge that will float it up the Mississippi River for testing...
‘Rock star for a day’: New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras
March 5, 2019 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — From children clamoring for tossed strands of beads, to revelers dressed up as "blind referees" poking fun at the NFL, to high school bands marching down the street, people in New Orleans celebrated Fat Tuesday with flair and fun...
Mardi Gras parade must go on
March 5, 2019 GMTPolice: New Orleans crash driver spoke of ‘drinking problem’
March 3, 2019 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A driver suspected of killing two people and injuring seven others, most of them on bikes, as large crowds gathered in New Orleans for Mardi Gras told police after the deadly crash, "I have a drinking problem," according to a police report...
The Latest: New Orleans driver: ‘I have a drinking problem’
March 3, 2019 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The Latest on a deadly crash in New Orleans (all times local):
Jean McClelland: Mardi Gras Masks come on display
March 3, 2019 GMTThe Mardi Gras celebration always starts on Epiphany Sunday and will end this year on Tuesday, March 5. Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday is historically a day of feasting, drinking and partying before the lean season of self-denial begins the Christian Lenten season.
Mardi Gras masks come on display
March 3, 2019 GMTThe Mardi Gras celebration always starts on Epiphany Sunday and will end this year on Tuesday, March 5. Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday is historically a day of feasting, drinking and partying before the lean season of self-denial begins the Christian Lenten season.
Plenty of options for celebrating Mardi Gras
March 2, 2019 GMTLent is just around the corner and soon there will be parties a plenty. Here's a look at some Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) fun happening around the region.
On Saturday, up in Swiss village of Helvetia, West Virginia they will celebrate in the European style with the annual Fasnacht celebration.
Mardi Gras weekend heats up, despite cold forecast
March 2, 2019 GMTDEADWOOD — With temperatures forecasted to be in the single digits Friday and Saturday, Deadwood’s Mardi Gras celebration continues to heat up, though revelers should bundle up to battle it out for those beads.
From satirical to silly, walking clubs spice up Mardi Gras
March 1, 2019 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — A floppy-eared pooch wearing a red crustacean costume rides in a wagon decorated like a shrimp boat, followed by another "boat" wagon occupied by a pug in a sailor hat...
Walking clubs spice up this year’s Mardi Gras
March 1, 2019 GMTMedia night more like a mosh pit and Mardi Gras
January 29, 2019 GMTATLANTA (AP) — Super Bowl Media Night is the NFL's version of a rock concert, with player interviews rather than music...
Party’s over: Raucous Fat Tuesday gives way to solemn Lent
February 14, 2018 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Families camped out from early morning to catch beads and stuffed animals thrown from float riders...
Costumes, beads and music: Mardi Gras comes to a close
February 14, 2018 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Families camped out from early morning to catch beads and stuffed animals thrown from float riders...
Senior Activity Center hosts Annual Mardi Gras Day
February 24, 2017 GMTPOCATELLO - On Tuesday, Feb. 22 at noon, join us for our Annual Mardi Gras celebration. We will honor the traditional holiday with Cajun food, music, and door prizes. A Jambalaya dish with red beans, rice, sweet mama potatoes, topped with a prawn garnish will be served.
Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas kicks off in downtown Port Arthur
February 24, 2017 GMTThe opening night of the annual Mardi Gras of Southeast Texas festivities kicked off Thursday night in downtown Port Arthur. The opening parade was among the highlights to kick off the weekend-long celebration.
Snow Trax: Texas Weekend, Mardi Gras are big events on tap
January 20, 2017 GMTHere are more events happening at area ski areas:
The biggest annual bash Angel Fire holds, beside its shovel races, is its “Big Ole Texas Weekend.” While New Mexicans and anyone with an appreciation for things Texan — such as country-western music, swing dancing, steak and brown liquors — are of course welcome.
African-American tradition returns to Carnival
January 21, 2013 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — The "baby dolls," an on-again, off-again Mardi Gras tradition of New Orleans' African-American community, are on again.
The troupes of women strutting and prancing in bonnets, garters, and skimpy or short, ruffled dresses on Fat Tuesday also are being spotlighted in a new book and museum exhibit that trace their history and modern rebirth.
Mardi Gras Indians on display at Jazz Fest
May 4, 2012 GMTNEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mardi Gras Indians have been parading at Carnival and Louisiana festivals for generations, but growing interest in their culture has the dancing, chanting costumed Indians on display in a new way at this year's New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.