Ryan Shea

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many public events have had a lid shut on them in order to maintain health and safety. For the most part, this has been reserved for localized events that don’t leave a large cultural impact, but some have wondered, how do these restrictions apply to major cultural phenomenons? In the wake of the coming and going of the spiritual festival Mardi Gras, the public may finally have an answer as to what sort of impact this entails.

To summarize the impact on Mardi Gras, the main festival had been completely quashed by state officials in its major buzzing city of New Orleans, with the promise of a safer alternative to not outright sacrifice tradition for those devoted to the event.

Louisianan Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson elaborates on the changes by saying, “This is normally the second weekend of Mardi Gras and after the crowds that we saw last weekend on Bourbon Street, I believe that it was very important that we had a more targeted, more intentional approach with regards to dispersing and addressing large crowd gatherings.”

The amendments include the temporary closure of local bars, the prohibiting of parades, and outdoor gatherings being limited to only 25 people at a time. As it stands, Mardi Gras has been compromised beyond what anybody could’ve expected, but with that in mind, how does this sort of lasting impression affect other big-name festivities?

When it comes to religious holidays that require specific setups, there COVID has necessitated restrictions impeding on tradition. Governments are  aware of what processes need to be taken to fulfill these holidays, and based on how Mardi Gras was handled, there’s a surefire sense of compromise to ensure that happiness and faith aren’t given up for safety’s sake entirely. While individual cases will certainly vary, there’s no doubt that Mardi Gras is an early example of how the world will try to maintain what it once had in the midst of the pandemic.