JEFFERSON PARISH, La. — After New Orleans signaled that Mardi Gras parades may be off the table in 2021, Jefferson Parish leaders say any plans for next year’s Carnival season are complicated.
Parish President Cynthia Lee Sheng said a successful Carnival - which includes packed bars, hotels, and restaurants - runs counter to messaging and safety guidelines issued to stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“It’s hard for me to envision us inviting large crowds unless something drastically changes with the numbers,” Lee Sheng said. “I don’t want to kill hope if I have to be honest, but I don’t want to give false promises.”
Lee Sheng said she would like to avoid a situation where festivities are suddenly canceled at the last moment, similar to last year’s plans for St. Patrick’s Day.
“[Organizers] need a lot of lead-up time to prepare,” Lee Sheng said. “COVID doesn’t give us that time, unfortunately.”
Lee Sheng floated the idea of possibly holding Carnival celebrations at a later time if COVID restrictions prevent them from taking place in early February.
She added that Mardi Gras 2020 would have been canceled “if we knew what we knew after the fact.”
“COVID is really not cooperating with us right now. And the time is getting shorter because they can not put on a parade in a week,” Lee Sheng said. “It just takes a lot more preparation, and where we are now, it’s difficult and I would have had a lot more hope earlier in November.”
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