Now we get people from New York City, California, Colorado. It's a fun party. In the past, some people thought New Orleans was too big a deal and they didn't want to go through that. We also have a range of different events. Our Mardi Gras has evolved into a lot of very different experiences.
Quotes about gras (16 Quotes)
I like visiting people's homes on Saint Joseph's Day, when people set up altars, serve food as a tribute to the saint, and invite the public - I enjoy that much more than Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras is our Christmas. Business is 200 percent, 300 percent more than usual.
People in the world will see all the media attention on Mardi Gras and think New Orleans is back to normal. But it's not look at this.
Mardi Gras will tell America that New Orleans is open for business.
I think its great how theyre keeping Mardi Gras alive. They certainly dont have anything like this in California.
I don't think we can measure the success of this Mardi Gras by its crowds but by its spirit. The pleasure I saw was enormous. Honestly, what does crowd size matter compared to that I wasn't counting heads because I was too busy counting smiles.
If you're born and raised in New Orleans, you don't fit anywhere else. Nothing against any other city, but it's just a way of life, a culture, that's so unique. It's just the idea of having Mardi Gras, the idea in the face of everything that's happened, taking the time to celebrate. It is something you need to do to keep yourself going.
The numbers are encouraging, and I'd say we're off to a good start. We opened right before Mardi Gras in order to capture the business from the start of New Orleans tourism. We were closed for a long time.
It's not a giant thing, like graduation, Mardi Gras, Halloween or New Year's. We do get business from it. That's why we put stuff out we don't skip it. It's our big thing for March.
Much like New York continued after 911 with the New Year's Eve celebration in Times Square, Mardi Gras has to continue in New Orleans. If they cancel, Katrina wins. We think it's important for everyone to stand behind this and get involved.
If you put a Super Bowl in Detroit in January, it does have a big positive benefit to the city - a significant fraction of those who attend and spend hundreds of bucks a piece wouldn't be there otherwise. But if you do the same thing in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, you're just displacing people who would be there anyway.
I am honored to be a part of the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans this year. It is so important for this amazing city to continue its annual traditions and I am really looking forward to being involved.
My idea of heaven is eating pate de foie gras to the sound of trumpets.
This year, Mardi Gras is a shadow of its former self, because its only 13rd of the city back, the rest of us are spread around the country such as myself. So it's good that they got together and held the celebration because it's a holiday, although it's not respected nationally, but like I said it's a shadow of its former self.
We cannot afford not to have Mardi Gras. That message would be -- New Orleans is closed for business.