NEW ORLEANS — With confetti falling, the Southern Decadence parade made its festive way through crowds in the French Quarter on Sunday. By Monday morning, the streets were cleared, and bars were doing a reset for the final day of the Labor Day weekend festival.
“It’s a great time to meet new people and just enjoy being together,” said Bruce Price.
Price and his partner Keith Lawrence came in from North Carolina. It’s a trip they’ve made about a dozen times.
“I thought it’s been really fun. I’ve enjoyed it again, love coming back every year,” said Lawrence.
In its 52nd year, Southern Decadence is the largest LGBTQ+ event in New Orleans and a big draw for visitors. Although official economic numbers aren’t in yet, this year’s festival has been downright colorful, with lots of green for some businesses.
“Some of the bars and restaurants report that they make a good portion of their annual budget on this weekend alone,” said Mary Beth Romig Associate Vice President for Public Relations at New Orleans and Company.
Romig says crowds helped put hotel occupancy up to 70 percent on Friday and Saturday nights. She also says the city has had a better-than-average summer season, made even better by the festival.
“As far as having Southern Decadence happen only in New Orleans and every Labor Day weekend, we look at it as an important anchor weekend for the overall hospitality calendar for the city of New Orleans,” said Romig.
Southern Decadence is such a notable weekend that New Orleans and Company relaunched a campaign last year called “Everyone’s Welcome Here.”
“It’s a very important feeling, spirit, message for us to get across and Southern Decadence weekend shows that very thing, that New Orleans is a very welcoming city to everyone,” said Romig.
That’s exactly why Bruce and Keith come to celebrate every year.
“Nowadays, in the environment we live in, it’s just really important to kind of pull people together,” said Lawrence.
“It’s a time where we can just let go and be ourselves and have a great time,” said Price.