A season of joy -- and caution -- kicks off in New Orleans
ABC News
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell helped usher in the city's Carnival season by sampling a city delicacy — king cake — at a morning event
NEW ORLEANS -- Vaccinated, masked and ready-to-revel New Orleans residents began ushering in Carnival season Thursday with plans for a rolling party on the city's historic streetcar line, an annual march honoring Joan of Arc in the French Quarter and a collective, wary eye on coronavirus statistics.
Carnival officially begins each year on Jan. 6 — the 12th day after Christmas — and, usually, comes to a raucous climax on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which falls on March 1 this year. Thursday's planned festivities come two years after a successful Mardi Gras became what officials later realized was an early Southern superspreader of COVID-19; and nearly a year after city officials canceled 2021 parades.
This year, the party is going on despite rapidly rising COVID-19 cases driven by the omicron variant.
“Without a doubt, we will have Mardi Gras 2022,” Mayor LaToya Cantrell said during a Thursday morning kickoff event, where participants removed protective masks long enough to sample slices of king cake, a seasonal delicacy.