User:Quarantineditor/Mardi Gras 2021

The Mardi Gras season for 2021 has been canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

What is Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras which translates to " Fat Tuesday "in French, goes back thousands of years. It was first brought up with the Catholics in Rome. It is a carnival celebration that contains plenty of food and elaborate entertainment. This plays a role with the Catholics because they would eat a whole bunch before Ash Wednesday, after which they would fast until Easter Sunday. Today Mardi Gras is celebrated in Brazil, Venice, Mobile and New Orleans. The holiday then and now is very different, but it has the same concept.

Season.
The parade season can last from 20-21 days. This year's dates were January 26th - February 6th, but it was canceled due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

Mobile, Alabama Mardi Gras Organizers put the citizens health first, and canceled the season for the first time since the tradition started. The holiday brought in crowds that would be in violation of the CDC s guidelines for COVID-19. Many businesses, like hotels and restaurants, missed the opportunity to make more money. This was because, people were not Downtown to celebrate like they usually would.

Organizations and Clubs.

 * Order of Myths
 * Cains Merry Widows
 * Blue Birds
 * Mobile Carnival Museum
 * Boeuf Gras Society
 * Bellas and Beaux

New Schedule.
Even though the season was canceled, they have their mind set on trying again. Depending on the cases are by May 21, they will have a one-night carnival celebration. Everything is relying on COVID-19, even if the cases are low enough it is still a risk to have the one night celebration. The one night celebration will still be breaking the rules of the CDCs guidelines, so the organizers have to think hard about their decision to have it.

Mayor Sandy Stimpson says “I don’t think every Mardi Gras organization wants to put all of their floats into a parade. It may be that an organization can put two or three floats in it. At some point, the parade gets so long we don’t have a route long enough to accommodate so many floats.” This is an on going issue with the one night carnival idea, since Mobile has a lot og Clubs and organizations that participates in the season, the parade will be very lengthy.

Resources.
https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2021/03/mardi-gras-in-may-if-covid-cases-fall-mobile-may-roll-out-carnival-like-parade.html

https://www.wkrg.com/mardi-gras/2021-mardi-gras-schedule-and-cancellations/

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mardi-gras#section_3