Festivals canceled, events canceled, mask mandates, what is next?

Spate of festival cancellations a call mask and vaccinate
Spate of festival cancellations a call mask and vaccinate Photo credit Getty Images: Aquir

Jazz Fest cancelled, White Linen scaled down, Red Dress nixed. Now Mid-Summer Mardi Gras is off.

The surge of the Delta variant of COVID-19 has just about thrown Louisiana back into the dark ages of the pandemic.

WWL consulted the pre-imminent authority on festivals and public events, Arthur Hardy, publisher of the Mardi Gras Guide.

“I even worry about Saints games, they’ll never be cancelled, but how many people will they allow in, will you have to be vaccinated or have to wear a mask, I don’t know,” Hardy quipped.

Hardy knows that the resurgence of COVID threatens the cultural expressions which drive the economy and tourism draw.

“I think everything is a question mark, that’s scheduled between now and next November,” he says. “My concern of course, beyond people’s health obviously, is Mardi Gras, and I think the cancellations we’re seeing now will help Mardi Gras.

Hardy has consulted with doctors who predict that if we can get back to masking and proliferating vaccinations the virus can be beaten back the same way it was done in the first rounds of the virus.

“The bad guy here is the virus,” Hardy explains.  “Not government or people making these decisions.  We’re doing what we have to do and it’s tough.  Financially a lot of venders are going to be hurting.”

Hardy does see light at the end of the tunnel.  He predicts the virus will be halted just in time for New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras on Fat Tuesday of 2022.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Getty Images: Aquir