New Orleans hosts its 1st full-dress Mardi Gras since 2020
Mardi Gras decorations in Uptown New Orleans in 2021[Infrogmation of New Orleans / CC BY 2.0]
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – People are out to party as New Orleans’ first full-dress Mardi Gras since 2020 dawns Tuesday, with a day of back-to-back parades through the city.
Masks against COVID-19 are required only in indoor public spaces.
Parades were canceled last year because officials realized that tightly packed crowds in 2020 had created a superspreader event.
As it has for years, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club will open the day with a parade that started as a mockery of white festivities, with Black riders wearing blackface and grass skirts.
Next come the elaborate floats of Rex, the self-styled king of Carnival, followed by lots of homemade floats on long flatbed trailers.