“Celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans finally made it feel like life was returning to normal. I drove into the city late Thursday and went to every parade from Friday until Tuesday. I even rode in a parade on Sunday, albeit on a shortened route. I’m sure that my liver and my wallet were less than excited about reveling after a year-long hiatus, but moderation isn’t necessarily a part of anyone’s Mardi Gras vocabulary, is it?”
Drake Brignac | @drakebrignac
“Some close friends and I visited New Orleans over the weekend, and we attended the Endymion Parade. The crowd gathered was much larger than I expected, as the city seems to be recovering from the pandemic restrictions this past year. It felt like a welcome return to normalcy, even though many attendees were still careful to wear masks and distance themselves from others when they had the opportunity.”
Noah McKinney | @itsthatnoah
“This year, Mardi Party brought back a lot of memories from 2019’s festivities, which is believed to be one of the country’s first super spreader events. It was really fun to be back in New Orleans, celebrating with friends and seeing everyone having so much fun despite the gloom in the news as people read updates on the raging war in Ukraine. I was glad for the festivities to return, and I had a blast. We are back—hopefully.”
Charlie Stephens | @CharlieStephns
“I celebrated Mardi Gras with just some friends, watching TV. I didn’t really do much, as I am so busy during the week that I really just wanted a break. Even though I didn’t party hard like a lot of other students, I don’t regret taking the weekend for myself. I still went to New Orleans for the weekend, and it was a nice relaxing getaway. Since I didn’t do much for the holiday, life still felt the same. However, I know a lot of students who went back to Mardi Gras normalcy. Maybe next year I’ll do the full five days of parades.”
Kacey Buercklin | @0kacey1
“I wasn’t scared of COVID-19 because I have the vaccine and the booster, but I still didn’t go to a parade. I’ve just been too tired to do much of anything recently. I’ll probably go to a parade next year. But I did have a slice of king cake for the first time. The cake was pretty good.”
Frank Kidd | @FK446852315
“Returning to Mardi Gras after a year without it has been exciting and overwhelming. I went to the Spanish Town Parade in downtown Baton Rouge on Saturday, and it was so fun to see so many people together again. I had never been to a parade as big as Spanish Town, so it was slightly overwhelming, but overall fun. We collected too many beads to count along with stuffed animals and candy. My favorite part of the parades, though, is catching cups. My family has always collected Mardi Gras cups, but I think some of the ones thrown at Spanish Town may be a little too raunchy to bring home to my grandparents.”
Mia Coco | @MiaMarieCoco1
“I celebrated Mardi Gras with my friends in New Orleans! I also got to celebrate my birthday over Mardi Gras, which was awesome. Let me just say, fear of the pandemic did not stop the crowds in New Orleans. Maybe I am just getting older and more irritable, but the crowds felt bigger than the ones two years ago. The only difference was bars and restaurants asked for proof of vaccination.”
Lura Stabiler | @lstabiler3
