Jefferson Parish Parades Still On, St Tammany Cancels

If you traditionally start making your plans for Mardi Gras season during Christmas, you might have to wait a little bit longer this year. News has been rolling in about Mardi Gras parades and balls being canceled for 2021, the latest being the Carencro Mardi Gras Association yesterday. This is disappointing for so many reasons, even though we know it is for the health and welfare of our fellow Louisiana citizens.

The latest casualty of the coronavirus pandemic is St Tammany Parish. Parish President Mike Cooper told NOLA.com that the difficult decision to cancel Mardi Gras  parades in 2021 was made after consulting with "St. Tammany Parish Coroner Charles Preston, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith, local fire districts, local police departments and a consensus of local mayors." The one holdout in an earlier conference call with parish officials was Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer. St Tammany joins Orleans Parish in canceling parades for 2021.

But it appears that the party will still go on in Jefferson Parish. As of today, several Mardi Gras parades are still scheduled to roll, according to the Mardi Gras New Orleans website. These include the Krewe of Little Rascals kickoff parade on January 31. No word yet from the popular Family Gras event, held at Clearview Shopping Center on Veterans Memorial Boulevard. Some of the other parades that are still on, as of now, are listed below. Check back with Mardi Gras New Orleans for updates.

• Krewe of Excalibur, Metairie - Friday, February 5
• Krewe of Centurions, Magical Krewe of Mad Hatters, Metairie - Saturday, February 6
• Krewe of Atlas, Krewe of Kings, Metairie - Sunday, February 7
• Krewe of Athena, Krewe of Pandora, Metairie - Sunday, February 14
• Krewe of Argus, Krewe of Elks Jefferson, Krewe of Jefferson, Metairie - Tuesday, February 16

.