NEW ORLEANS – Mardi Gras 2021 looks a lot different from years past due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but the celebrations will continue, just in a muted manner.
Bars are closed, parades are canceled and Bourbon Street is blocked to costumed revelers who usually pack the French Quarter, The Associated Press reported.
The pre-Lent parties that are part of the culture of New Orleans have evolved for 2021 after the same celebrations held last year are believed to have contributed to making Louisiana a COVID-19 hot spot at the start of the pandemic.
One senior at Warren Easton Charter High School wanted to march with his school’s band one last Mardi Gras before graduation.
“I think everybody looks forward to the last year of marching because I wanted to go [out] with a bang. But things happen,” Elvin King III told the AP.
Elvin King III a senior at Warren Easton High and member of their marching band, which will not march because parades are cancelled, poses for a portrait in front of his home in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Another change, there will be no Rex crowned this year, a tradition that names a prominent New Orleans man as King of Carnival.
This isn’t the first time the parades have been changed. They were canceled or moved in 1979 because of a police strike. In 2006, Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath forced the revelry to be shortened, the AP reported.
While parades won’t roll down the streets, the people can still go see float-like displays as NOLA homes are decorated as “house floats.” There will also be livestreams of virtual celebrations on nola.com.
Passersby look at dinosaurs on the balcony of a mansion on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. The banner says "Thank you, Mayor, for keeping us safe." Because pandemic dangers from large and widespread crowds have canceled Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans this year, thousands of people are decorating their homes as floats. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Thom Karamus shows his paper mache head of the hookah-smoking caterpillar from "Alice in Wonderland," on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2021, in New Orleans. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Parts of Mardi Gras floats created by Kern Studios sit stored inside Mardi Gras World in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People in Mardi Gras regalia gather outside a restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Charlotte "Charlie" Jallans-Daly, right, and her wife, Sharon Jallans-Daly, pose for a picture behind giant ruby slippers which are part of Wizard of Oz "house float" decorations for Mardi Gras. Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021 in New Orleans. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Beads hang from a float created by Kern Studios, inside Mardi Gras World in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Carley Sercovich hot glues an addition to a coral reef of boxes and spray foam at the foot of her front steps in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Parts of Mardi Gras floats created by Kern Studios sit stored inside Mardi Gras World in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Workers for Kern Studios, construct Mardi Gras floats for future Mardi Gras, at Mardi Gras World, where the studio creates and stores some of their floats, in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Police barricades are set up on Bourbon Street ahead of closure in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People in Mardi Gras regalia gather outside a restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People in costume walk past a shuttered bar on Bourbon Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Jessica Spencer, left, and Carley Sercovich discuss the progress of Mardi Gras "house float" decorations at Sercovich’s home in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
People walk past parts of Mardi Gras floats past and present, at Mardi Gras World, where Kern Studios creates and stores some of their floats, in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A top-hatted dinosaur, shown Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, is among Mardi Gras decorations in the yard of a mansion on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Because pandemic dangers from large and widespread crowds have canceled Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans this year, thousands of people are decorating their homes as floats. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Designer, Caroline Thomas looks at a house decorated like a parade float in New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Elvin King III a senior at Warren Easton High and member of their marching band, which will not march because parades are cancelled, poses for a portrait in front of his home in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A person walks past the Krewe of Muses Parade headquarters, now decorated since their parade was cancelled, on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Elvin King III a senior at Warren Easton High and member of their marching band, which will not march because parades are cancelled, poses for a portrait in front of his home in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Mardi Gras beads thrown from Mardi Gras parades gone by, still hang from trees on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Parade float workers Travis Keene, left, and Joey Mercer position a pelican while fellow crew member Chelsea Kamm, right, looks on while decorating a house in New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Foam balls studded with golf tees stand in for coronaviruses at this "house float" in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Brett Boudreaux, an employee of Kern Studios, walks past parts of Mardi Gras floats past and present, at Mardi Gras World, where the studio creates and stores some of their floats, in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 12, 2021. New Orleans’ annual pre-Lenten Mardi Gras celebration is muted this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Parades canceled. Bars closed. Crowds suppressed. Mardi Gras joy is muted this year in New Orleans as authorities seek to stifle the coronavirus’s spread. And it’s a blow to the tradition-bound city’s party-loving soul. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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