NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans is trading one kind of mask for another this Halloween weekend.
New Orleans’ mask mandate ended Friday, just in time for the holiday festivities. Friday evening, Frenchmen Street slowly filled with local music-seekers and costumed visitors.
Jennifer Jones, seen often in the French Quarter, was dressed head to toe in an elaborate costume full of feather boas. She was double-masked but excited to see people out and about.
Jones said of lifting the mask mandate, “It’s still a lot on our plate. But it makes us feel a little better I guess, according to the stats, that it’s ok to say no mask mandate.”
For ghouls all over the city, faces can be bare indoors for the first time since August.
Ben and Cecily Hodgson are visiting from Colorado. They weren’t aware the mask mandate was lifted Friday, and say they came prepared for whatever COVID restrictions might be in place.
“We have three nights of costumes and three nights of concerts planned. We’re gonna go hard. Excited,” said Ben Hodgson.
Cecily said the pair will likely have to wear their masks at music venues, and it doesn’t bother them.
Mayor Latoya Cantrell lifted the mask mandate because COVID numbers have drastically improved in New Orleans, along with increased vaccination rates.
For the first time since July, the city went a whole week without a COVID death. And the positivity rate is lower than one percent.
New Orleans haunts will still have to check patrons for proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test at the door.
There’s nothing scary about that, if you ask the visitors who came ready for it. Brittany Wynn and her mother-in-law, Angela Ross, came down from Virginia for a girl’s trip this weekend.
They didn’t check the guidelines in the city ahead of time, but came prepared.
“We didn’t know but we did just do it just out of precaution,” said Wynn.
“Yeah, we all have our vaccine cards,” Ross said.
While it’s not the normal crowds of Halloween weekend, it’s a step forward to keeping New Orleans haunted but healthy.