The lead up to New Orleans’ annual Mardi Gras celebration intensifies Friday with events big and small.
FILE _ Galatoire's waiter Imre Szalai serves Barkus King Rockafella, seated, and Queen Biscuit, on the floor, their royal lunch at the famous restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Feb. 9, 2007. The buildup to New Orleans Mardi Gras celebration intensifies Friday, Feb. 10, 2023, with nighttime parades rolling along St. Charles Avenue and animal lovers gathering at Galatoire's Restaurant to pay tribute to four-legged faux royalty.
On Friday night, three parades with marching brass bands and colorful floats with costumed riders are to step off in the Uptown area. Other Friday night parades are scheduled in neighboring Metairie, and there will be more than two dozen celebrations almost nightly until Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which this year falls on Feb. 21.
This year the original routes have been restored and the local police department is bolstered by a contingent of 125 troopers from other parts of the state to help keep order. By various estimates, the local police force has dwindled to about 900 members, which is hundreds fewer than what local experts say is needed.Joe Bikulege — co-owner of Le Bon Temps Roule, a neighborhood bar and music club on Magazine Street — said that businesses and residents welcome the restored routes.
Mardi Gras is the culmination of Carnival season — which officially begins each year on Jan. 6, the 12th day after Christmas, known as King's Day, in New Orleans and closes with the arrival of Lent on Ash Wednesday.
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