New Orleans’ annual carnival season entered its flamboyant climax Tuesday, with thousands of revelers gathering in the French Quarter and lining parade routes across the city in Mardi Gras festivities, which this year has been marred by violent crime concerns and political turmoil. Was impressed
Celebrations began in some parts of the city in the morning. TV crews captured images of The North Side Skull and Bones gang – a gang of skeleton-costumed revelers – spreading through the Treme area to wake people up for Mardi Gras. As the sun rose over a cloudy day, parade watchers were already claiming places along the St. Charles Avenue parade route. The aroma of barbecue pervades the Central Business District.
Revelers were undeterred by the violence, which marred a glittering weekend parade. A teenager was killed and four others, including a 4-year-old girl, were injured in a shooting during the parade on Sunday night. Police quickly arrested 21-year-old Mansur Mbodj for illegal possession of a weapon, then changed the charge to second-degree murder.
Authorities insisted Monday that the shooting was an isolated incident.
“It’s discouraging, but it’s not stopping me from coming,” said Rose Walker, 55. Organization. They’ve been visiting New Orleans on Mardi Gras for decades.
“In our 40-plus years of coming to Mardi Gras, we’ve never been involved in a situation,” she said.
Ken Traylor of Houston, a Mardi Gras participant, first heard about the shooting but avoided it. “I guess you have to be mindful of your surroundings,” he said. “Things happen everywhere nowadays.”
Crime has contributed to dissatisfaction with New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell. She easily won re-election in 2021 but has since faced a number of political problems, including criticism about crime, the slow pace of major road repairs, and questions over her personal use of city-owned French Quarter apartments.
A recall petition launched last year is nearing a Wednesday deadline. Eileen Carter, one of the organizers, said she believed the movement had enough signatures but would push at the last minute.
Carter said, “We’re going to preach to people on the parade routes.” “It’s been really helpful for us.”
Fueling the political turmoil: Cantrell was captured in a social media video pointing with his middle finger as a parade passed by a downtown review stand over the weekend. What prompted it was not clear. The mayor’s press office did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press. A statement provided to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate sheds some light.
“Mardi Gras is a time where sarcasm and pranks are on full display,” spokesman Gregory Joseph said in a prepared statement. “The city is enjoying a safe and healthy carnival,” the statement said.
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the climax of the carnival season, which officially begins each year on January 6, the 12th day after Christmas, and closes on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.
New Orleans’ raucous celebration is the most famous in the country, but the holiday is also celebrated in Louisiana and much of the Gulf Coast. Mobile, Alabama, claims the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the country.