The official Mardi Gras parade season in New Orleans starts Friday! Local tourism officials say they're hearing good buzz about this season.
"From all indications we've seen a lot of pent up demand, you know, this is really the first Mardi Gras we've seen where everything is back to the full routes, the full parade schedule," said New Orleans & Company's Kelly Schulz.
Although there was a lot of angst, locally, leading up to the announcement that parades were back to normal, Schulz said that really didn't make its way out to the traveling public
"Some visitors don't fully understand what the scope of Mardi Gras is, right? We often try and educate out-of-towners just how complex this is," she said.
And the excitement is growing.
"We're hearing from our hotels that they are quickly getting very, very full," said Schulz. "That doesn't even include those guests who are coming in to stay with friends or relatives, or maybe stay at Air BnBs."