NEW ORLEANS – Probably the last thing a city inundated with water and
filled with human misery needs is a parade, much less a Mardi Gras. But
just a week after Hurricane Katrina unleashed its devastation, there
already are signs that New Orleans is remaining loyal to its partying
ways.
Over the weekend, about two dozen people in beads, hula skirts and wigs
danced down Bourbon Street in a symbolic show that life must go on. A
few months from now, there's a good chance there might even be some kind
of scaled-back Mardi Gras.
ERIC GAY/AP
Mat James carries his dog, Baby Pearl, as he marches in the Southern Decadence parade Sunday in New Orleans' French Quarter. Southern Decadence is a weeklong gay pride festival that was to have begun Sunday with a gala parade, and a few diehard revelers cobbled together the small procession in its stead.
"I think now more than ever we need a reason to celebrate. It's really
at our core," said Arthur Hardy, publisher of the Mardi Gras Guide. "I
can't imagine the city rolling over and playing dead and saying, 'I
surrender.' "
With thousands believed dead and authorities still unable to collect
bodies floating in canals and hidden in attics, even the talk of a Mardi
Gras celebration might seem disrespectful.
But New Orleans has always loved a good time, and when the two-week,
pre-Lent celebration that ends with Fat Tuesday arrives on Feb. 28,
floats could be parading down streets now covered in water.
"Guess what? It's New Orleans," French Quarter resident Maryann Davis
said. "We'll always have something to parade for."
Mardi Gras is enormous even by this city's standards. In 2001, more than
1,000 floats, 500 marching bands and 135,000 people paraded through the
streets. One university study estimates the celebration brings in $1
billion a year to New Orleans.
Hardy, who has been publishing his guide for 30 years and is one of the
foremost experts on Mardi Gras, said next year's celebration is also
important because it's the 150th anniversary of the first formal parades
in the city.
The Civil War interrupted partying for a time, and a total of 13 Fat
Tuesdays have been canceled because of various conflicts. The Sept. 11
attacks and the 2002 Super Bowl delayed the 2002 parade.
"I've heard some people say we can't do it," Hardy said. "But it's a
very significant anniversary and I can't imagine it going unmarked
without some kind of parade. It's in our soul to have Mardi Gras."
The old feelings are already beginning to stir in the French Quarter.
On Sunday, a small group of revelers wearing outlandish costumes
gathered for the city's annual Southern Decadence festival, a gay event
which normally draws thousands.
Carpenter John Lambert dressed up as a member of the Village People and
carried a sign reading "Life Goes On." He was joined in the makeshift
parade by people who had taken shelter in his house.
Come February, he promised, the party will be much bigger.
"Mardi Gras is a brew, it's a gumbo. It's defined by what people bring
to it," Lambert said. "There will definitely be a Mardi Gras. No doubt
about it."
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On the Net:
Arthur Hardy's
Mardis Gras Guide
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