New Orleans is hoping the tourists come back for Mardi Gras this month to celebrate the event’s 150th anniversary as well as the city’s survival, six months after Hurricane Katrina.
More than two dozen parades, with costumed marchers, floats and bands, are scheduled to roll between Saturday and Feb. 28. They include the Endymion parade, Feb. 25, 3:30 p.m., with Jim Belushi and Dan Akyroyd as grand marshals; Bacchus, Feb. 26, 5:15 p.m. with celebrity monarch Michael Keaton; and Proteus, Feb. 27, 5:15 p.m., followed by Orpheus.
Mardi Gras Day, on Feb. 28, begins with the Zulu parade, 8 a.m., and Rex at 10 a.m., considered the grandest of the old-line parades. They will be followed by two parades, Elks and Orleanians, with more than 100 elaborately decorated trucks filled with families and school children.
While you’re in town, visit Mardi Gras World, home of the world’s largest float builder, by taking the Canal Street Ferry across the Mississippi River to historic Algiers. You can meet the artisans and sample King Cake, a holiday tradition. Mardi Gras World is open year-round, but closed on Mardi Gras Day.
Hundreds of the city’s restaurants are also back in business. Try a po-boy at Felix’s Uptown, Johnny’s Po-Boys, or Maspero’s. For jambalaya and gumbo, go casual at Mother’s or The Gumbo Shop. For fine dining, enjoy Galatoire’s, Begue’s, Ralph’s on the Park, Muriel’s on Jackson Square, the Grill Room at the Windsor Court or Arnaud’s.
For more info, click www.neworleansonline.com or call (504) 524-4784.
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