Mardi Gras in New Orleans is officially here, with the Joan of Arc parade and the Société Des Champs Elysée streetcar ride ready to start the 2026 season Tuesday in the French Quarter.
The events fall on Epiphany, or the Christian holiday commemorating the three wise men visiting baby Jesus and bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. The day is also known as or Three Kings Day, which kicks off the celebratory span of time that lasts more than a month and culminates on Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday.
Known as the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc, the group formed in 2008 and now holds the first parade of the Mardi Gras season. It’s a two-hour medieval-inspired walking procession that starts at 300 N. Front St. and ends at the corner of French Market Place and Barracks Street.
The krewe is slated to begin assembling at 5:45 p.m. at the starting point and the parade begins at 7:30 p.m.
Several stops occur along the way, including a king cake ceremony at Oscar Dunn Park across the street from Jackson Square and a brief pause to sing happy birthday at the Joan of Arc statue where North Peter and Decatur streets converge.
Joan of Arc’s birthday is generally accepted to be Jan. 6, 1412, although the exact date of her birth was never recorded. At the age of 17, Joan of Arc helped a demoralized French army beat back the English during the siege of Orléans in the Hundred Years War after claiming to be guided by divine visions. She was burned at the stake in 1431.
The Société Des Champs Elysée, also known as La Société Pas Si Secrète Des Champs-Élysées or The Not So Secret Society of the Elysian Fields, has held its streetcar ride since 2017.
The ride starts at 7:30 p.m. at the intersection of North Rampart Street and Esplanade Avenue, and proceeds southwest down North Rampart until the streetcar reaches Union Passenger Terminal near Loyola and Howard avenues.
The streetcar then turns around and heads back down the same route until reaching its starting point.
New Orleans Police are investigating a shooting death of a man that occurred near the intersection of Decatur and St. Philip streets on Saturday, officials said.
Records show that police responded to the shooting at about 9:01 p.m. NOPD officials said the shooting occurred in between the railroad tracks and the Mississippi River, near the intersection.
The man was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the NOPD, which did not identify the man. Suspect information was not provided.
The shooting was near the route of the annual Krewe of Boo Halloween parade, which occurred earlier in the evening.
Our latest Quarter Rat Newspaper is our 7th issue in the past year. There were times we had editorial discussions asking ourselves if we were crossing any lines. Nope, we pretty much ran with every stupid juvenile idea we came up with. Brains on Bourbon Street, celebrity gossip, porn for hobos, accusing the First Lady of France of being a shape-shifting reptilian, mouth to ass recipes and page 3 girls with ample cleavage. Add to it Jay Slusher’s true stories that read like Tarantino scripts rejected for excessive violence.
A Mardi Gras issue is a must for us, but they are so boring. We locals don’t want to read about the time of the year we dread the most. Quarter Rats drink to forget Mardi Gras. We all know the history, the krewes and traditions. Parade routes can be found anywhere online so why waste the newsprint.
We figured if anyone was going to bitch about anything, it would be about our “FUCK MARDI GRAS” headline. That’s like a newspaper in Rome running the headline “FUCK THE POPE.” Some sacred things can trigger zealot outrage if disrespected. Over the past year and all the shit we have printed, the only negative feedback so far has been Issa’s centerfold in this February issue.
Really? This is The French Quarter, correct? Technically, she isn’t even nude. She could wear that to the beach if she wanted some amusing tan lines. We all walked past “Nipple Glitter” stands on our way to work this season, but a Vargas like pool table pose is too much for some Quarter Rats sensibilities? Most all of you loved it and were proud of Issa. One of her co-workers commented to me: “I am impressed by her being so comfortable with herself and the don’t give a fuck attitude.”
So are we, that’s why she is part of our QR team. After she contributed her hilarious deadbeat Nicolas Cage story, this paper knew it needed her to contribute more. This issue was just a quick 8-page issue just to say we did it. For the FUCK MARDI GRAS issue, a middle finger and titties seemed like a great cover idea, let’s ask Issa.
No one has directed negative comments to the editorial staff of this fine publication, instead they were directed personally at her. That pissed me off. Issa is like a daughter to me, Ok, a stepdaughter. Maybe more like a cute stepdaughter in a Florida trailer park kind of way. We all love her and let her be her.
One person said to her: “Why did you do this? You must have been manipulated or coerced into doing it.” A real insult to any person, especially her. That statement implies weakness and a lack of self-agency on her part.
She was asked a week prior to the shoot and could have backed out at any time. As we shot the photos, she reviewed every one and gave feedback. Her boyfriend was there. Issa got to approve the final layout prior to being sent off to the printer. The readers I ran into who saw it cheered for her.
One of you fucks actually commented to her about a “double chin.” I’m sure the one who made the comment is a chiseled like a sculpture. What a dickhead thing to say. It’s socially unacceptable to say to a woman “Nice tits” but it is somehow socially Ok to say, “Nice chins?” Go back, apologize to her and buy her a shot.
No man has the right to tell a woman what she can or can’t do with her own body! Only a woman is allowed to tell another woman what she can do with her body.
If you are a 300-plus pound feminist with a shaved head objecting to a sexualized woman, I get it. If you are a male feminist objecting to it, you probably have never even touched boobies. Wait until your balls drop then comment.
We didn’t have a misleading headline with no hint as to the content. Big words above the fold “OUR VERY FIRST CENTERFOLD ISSA!!” Only after you unfolded the paper did you see electrical tape over her nipples. If that was too shocking for you then proceeding to the centerfold was probably a poor decision on your part.
The actual centerfold was totally absurd. A parody of sorts. Did we do the cliche’ accompanying text of: “This hot European import is Issa. Her turn-ons are Harry Potter and puppies.” No. Our centerfold was cluttered with Steve Buscemi trivia and a 9/11 reference. What kind of a fucked-up publication would print such dumb-ass shit?
Oh wait, yea.
Her body, her choice. Picking up the paper, your choice.
(Photo: Krewe of Chewbacchus | Infrogmation | CC) The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus, the Star Wars-named krewe known for its walking parade, announced Monday that it will cancel its Mardi Gras festivities scheduled later for this month due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Chewbacchus replaced its 11th annual walking parade with a self-guided tour of stationary subkrewes. This year’s theme was “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and was scheduled to run on Jan. 23.
The cancellation comes after New Orleans moved into modified Phase One restrictions on Friday due to surging rates of the coronavirus, which was reported at 10.4% last week–up from 5.5% the prior week, according to local health officials.
The krewe was already planning for its scaled-back walking tour, which was announced on Dec. 7. Instead, a virtual costume contest will now replace the walking tour.
“With the recent decision by the city of New Orleans to move to modified Phase 1, the 2021 celebration and all subKrewe activities will be halted,” according to Chewbacchus. “We are trusting the science and directing all krewe members to suspend their planned celebrations”
Instead, the krewe will hold a virtual costume contest and asking its krewe members, and the public, to post photos of their Chewbacchus costumes on Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #chewbacchusnewreality2021.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced on Jan. 6 that the city will enter modified Phase One restrictions due to the surging coronavirus rate.
The restrictions, which will last three weeks or until Jan. 29, include limiting indoor business capacity to 25%, gathering sizes to no greater than a single household. Bars are prohibited from serving customers indoors, although to-go drinks are still allowed and outdoor seating is still allowed from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. New Orleans bars, breweries and live entertainment venues were ordered closed by 11 p.m.. Dec. 30.
“We’ve always made decisions based on data, every step of the way,” Cantrell said during a Jan. 6 press conference, citing a “serious issue with community spread.” “We’ve always made decisions based on data, every step of the way.”
Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of New Orleans Health Department, said the city is averaging 200 new cases each day, indicating a major community outbreak with one in every person infected, on average.
“When you are with 10 other people, it is highly likely that one of them will have COVID-19,” Avegno said. “The more people who have it, the more will be hospitalized and more will die.”
New Orleans recorded a cumulative total of 23, 252 coronavirus infections and 689 deaths from the disease since the pandemic started in March, with an additional 380 new infections and two deaths reported Sunday.
City officials have released an vaccine distribution plan, with vaccinations of healthcare workers and nursing home residents beginning in December and essential workers likely up next this year.
(Photo: Krewe of Chewbacchus parade in 2016. | Infrogmation | CC Flickr) A self-navigated tour with decorated businesses and houses will replace Krewe of Chewbacchus’ signature walking procession, which was slated to roll next month but canceled due to a New Orleans ban on Mardi Gras parades issued in November as a measure to limit spread of COIVD-19.
The 11th annual event, dubbed the “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the New Reality – Volume One,” will include an online brochure with a map of stationary subkrewes issued within a week of the start date on Jan. 23, 2021, according to a Monday announcement from the krewe, formally called The Intergalactic Krewe of Chewbacchus.
Each station represents a “chapter” in the guide where visitors along the route can receive Chewbacchus’ prized hand-made throws. The krewe announced that anyone not following the guidelines won’t receive a throw. Krewe members will also be masked and physically distanced 6 feet apart.
The Star Wars-named and science fiction-themed krewe held its first parade in 2010 and is also a nonprofit, and religion, or The Cult of the Sacred Drunken Wookie. In the past several years, the Chewbacchus parade has started in the Bywater and passed down Decatur Street in the French Quarter. It’s a walking only krewe, meaning members don’t ride on floats pulled by motor vehicles, but still have bikes or any type of human-powered “contraption” that’s able to roll.
“Chewbacchus will embark on its eleventh annual adventure, this time navigating the impossible terrain of socially distanced parading during a global pandemic,” the krewe said on Monday. “Life finds a way.”
While not outright canceling Mardi Gras 2021 itself, because it’s a religious holiday, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s decision to cancel parades was not formally announced even though the information was posted to the city’s website, according to spokesman Beau Tidwell during a Nov. 17 press conference.
“It’s not a matter [that] the information didn’t get out there, but it could’ve gone out more artfully,” Tidwell said. “I think the larger conversation has always been, given where we are, given the conditions, parading isn’t possible.”
A list of “criteria” and “recommendations” was issued by the Health Committee of the Mayor’s Mardi Gras Advisory Council and posted to the city’s website, including that krewes not organize any event that would cause crowds to grow beyond the 250-person limit for public gatherings set by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards in March.
Spectators along the route will be encouraged to keep moving by participating in a treasure hunt-like contest to find a list of rare artifacts with clues that reveals the location of a grand prize package, which includes lifetime membership to the krewe and rights to the title of “Ultimate Survivor of the New Reality.”
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