The countdown to Mardi Gras 2009 is on and nowhere in the country are they more excited about the event than in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Big Easy traditionally hosts one of the largest Mardi Gras festivals in the entire world. In fact, according to event organizers, not even the current recession is putting the pinch on this year’s festivities.
If you’re planning to head down to New Orleans to celebrate Fat Tuesday, then don’t miss out on the Mardi Gras parades. And don’t forget to bring some shopping bags along. You’ll need them to hold all the loot that gets tossed off parade floats. Everything from stuffed animals, felt spears, toy footballs hand-glittered shoes, and beads (more than $1 million worth of glitzy goodies) get thrown to the thousands of revelers that line the parade route.
This year nearly 50 Mardi Gras parades are scheduled to take place in the greater New Orleans area. The parades and citywide revelry have been taking place in New Orleans since 1857. Since then only widespread disease and world wars have cancelled the festivities. The last full cancellation of Mardi Gras events took place in 1945, the last year of World War II.
According to historians, only one parade was canceled during the Great Depression and the year after Hurricane Katrina nearly obliterated the city, the show went on, albeit on a smaller scale. This year the Krewe of Endymion, Mardi Gras’ largest parade group, will join 2,500 parade participants to ride along 2.5 miles of the New Orleans’s Mid-City neighborhood. The parade ends in a black-tie gala inside the Superdome, where REO Speedwagon and Kid Rock will perform.
The event is expected to draw more than 700,000 visitors to New Orleans and, in the past, has generated more than $1 billion for the city, according to officials.
Will you be traveling to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras?
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