NEW ORLEANS — The Mayor’s Mardi Gras Advisory Council has suggested raising the amount of float parades permitted to roll through New Orleans within the official Mardi Gras season in 2024.
Our partners at NOLA.com report there were more parades rolling through New Orleans than the city officially permitted. According to city ordinance, no more than 30 float parades can roll within the 12-day period leading up to Fat Tuesday, but the city’s official parade list reveals 34 parades were in action in 2023.
At a meeting on March 23, The Mardi Gras Advisory Council voted to raise the number of permitted parades to align with the number of parades that are actually out on the streets.
Council co-chairman James Reiss III told NOLA.com that the higher capacity was “just designed to clean up the existing ordinance, so that the Council isn’t violating the ordinance by issuing more than 30 permits.”
NOLA.com reports that the original plan to limit the number of float parades overtime is not working. When The Adonis Parade was cancelled, it was quickly replaced by another one. The city allowed The Legion of Mars to roll for the very first time, rather than trying to reduce the number of events to align with the rules.
The committee also wants to take action against “piggyback parades,” which are “parades within parades,” according to NOLA.com. The trend seems to have started in 2020 when thousands of members reportedly left the Mystic Krewe of Nyx over disagreements and united into subgroups. They could not form their own parade, so they had to march through established parades.
The Mayor’s Mardi Gras Advisory Council cannot change city ordinances on their own. The New Orleans City Council would have to get involved. Reiss told NOLA.com the advisory council’s recommendations are still a work in progress.
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