Mardi Gras

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Trash lines the gutter on Bourbon Street, in the early hours of the morning after Mardi Gras, in New Orleans, Feb. 18, 2015. It’s a beloved century-old Carnival season tradition in New Orleans — masked riders on lavish floats fling strings of colorful beads or other trinkets to parade watchers clamoring with outstretched arms. It's all in good fun but it's also a bit of a “plastics disaster,” says Judith Enck, a former Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator and president of the advocacy group Beyond Plastics. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, file)

Greening Mardi Gras: Environmentalists push alternatives to plastic Carnival beads in New Orleans

By Kevin McGill - Associated Press

Krewe du Vieux parades through the Marigny neighborhood in New Orleans, Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (Sophia Germer/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

Mardi Gras is coming. Here’s what to know about New Orleans’ parades and parties

By Kevin McGill - Associated Press

Lawren DiBella sprinkles colored sugar onto king cakes at Haydel's Bakery in Jefferson Parish, La., Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Fat Tuesday means big business for New Orleans bakers under exploding demand for king cakes

By Kevin Mcgill and Stephen Smith - Associated Press

Queen of Zulu Dr. Christy Lagarde Spears rides on a float during the traditional Krewe of Zulu Parade on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Mardi Gras brings joy — but also worry over violent crime

Associated Press

FILE - Actor Bryan Cranston waves beads as he acts as the celebrity monarch of the Krewe of Orpheus along the Uptown parade route during Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, on Feb. 24, 2020. Vaccinated, masked and ready-to-revel New Orleans residents will usher 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. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)

A season of joy — and caution — kicks off in New Orleans

By Kevin McGill - Associated Press

People in a mostly maskless crowd walk down Ocean Drive in Miami Beach, Florida's famed South Beach, Monday, March 22, 2021. A party-ending curfew is in effect in Miami Beach, imposed after fights, gunfire, property destruction and dangerous stampedes broke out among huge crowds of people. The curfew could extend through the end of spring break. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

Miami’s South Beach confronts disastrous spring break

By KELLI KENNEDY and CODY JACKSON - Associated Press

FILE- In this Feb. 12, 2015, file photo, the Mystic Stripers Society parade rolls along during Mardi Gras in downtown Mobile, Ala. Mardi Gras celebrations along the Gulf Coast were all but a bust this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the city of Mobile is considering staging a Carnival-style parade through downtown in May 2021 after the state’s mandatory face mask rule expires. News outlets report that Mayor Sandy Stimpson discussed the possibility with City Council members during a meeting Tuesday, March 10, 2021. (Mike Kittrell/Press-Register via AP, File)

Tardy Gras? Mobile considers Carnival-style parade for May

Associated Press

File - In this March 9, 2011 file photo, police on horseback and foot clear out the crowds on Bourbon Street at midnight for the end of Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans. The final weekend of Mardi Gras season in New Orleans has begun with a warning from police that crowds won't be tolerated as the city fights to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Police chief Shaun Ferguson noted Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, that bars throughout the city were being ordered to close through Fat Tuesday. And he said police will man barricades limiting pedestrian traffic on Bourbon Street to people who live or work there, hotel guests, and restaurant patrons. T (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

Muted Mardi Gras: Closed bars, barricaded Bourbon Street

By KEVIN McGILL - Associated Press

People walk past parts of Mardi Gras floats past and present, at Mardi Gras World, where Kern Studios creates and stores some of their floats, in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans' annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. 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. And it's a blow to the tradition-bound city's party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Virus-muffled Mardi Gras hits New Orleans’ party-loving soul

By KEVIN McGILL, REBECCA SANTANA and and JANET McCONNAUGHEY - Associated Press

Fat Tuesday crowds in Mobile a threat for spreading virus

Associated Press

A street sign hangs on St. Claude Avenue, Jan. 30, 2021, in New Orleans. The toll of this year’s toned-down Mardi Gras is evident on St. Claude Avenue, an off-the-beaten-track stretch that has become a destination in recent years. (AP Photo/Dorthy Ray)

Coronavirus dims Carnival joy and commerce on a New Orleans street

By Rebecca Santana - Associated Press

Louisiana woman makes royal attire for mystic krewes

By VICTORIA DODGE and Lafayette Daily Advertiser - Associated Press

Mobile adding light, float displays for Mardi Gras

Associated Press

New Orleans to shut down bars during Mardi Gras weekend

By KEVIN McGILL - Associated Press

In this Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, file photo, Mondo Kayo parades down Chartres Street during Mardi Gras, in New Orleans. A subdued Carnival season begins Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, 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. (AP Photo/Rusty Costanza) **FILE**

COVID-19 turns New Orleans dry: Mayor orders bars closed for Mardi Gras

By James Varney - The Washington Times

How Mobile businesses are adapting to paradeless Mardi Gras

By JOHN SHARP and AL.com - Associated Press

Meet 1 woman keeping traditional Mardi Gras making alive

By VICTORIA DODGE and Lafayette Daily Advertiser - Associated Press

Parade float workers Travis Keene, left, and Joey Mercer position a pelican while fellow crew member Chelsea Kamm, right, looks on while decorating a house in New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)

No Mardi Gras parades, so thousands make ‘house floats’

By JANET McCONNAUGHEY - Associated Press

With Mardi Gras parades canceled, New Orleans eats king cake

By Todd A. Price and USA Today/The American South - Associated Press

For Mobile beermaker, 2020 made rebirth a complex brew

By LAWRENCE SPECKER and Al.com - Associated Press