Although parades might not roll this Mardi Gras; the city of New Orleans and Louisiana’s Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser say Mardi Gras is not canceled.
The Lieutenant Governor says Mardi Gras is a major economic event for state and when the national news outlets reported Mardi Gras was canceled, it will hurt Louisiana’s $1.2 Billion tourism industry.
“We are going to have to do some major damage control far past Mardi Gras,” Nungesser said. “The word ‘canceled’ should not be used”.
He and the city of New Orleans says Mardi Gras is not canceled but will be very different during the pandemic. The convention industry and other state tourism events are also struggling amid the pandemic.
“It just makes it a little bit more difficult you got to just be careful of how you word everything,” Nungesser explained. “So we are leaning forward… we are cautiously optimistic that we are going to be able to have all these events but just have them in a different way”.
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Nungesser says he and the state’s tourism leaders are working hard to bring tourism back to Louisiana despite the negative press. New Orleans’ Mardi Gras Advisory Committee commissioned Carnival krewes and the public to submit ideas on how the city can safely celebrate Mardi Gras.