In the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, revellers would normally attend dozens of parades rolling on city streets, replete with colorful floats and marching bands. This year, homeowners have decorated houses to resemble Mardi Gras parade floats.
NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans bars will be shut down, even for takeout service, throughout next week's Mardi Gras weekend — usually among their busiest times of the year — in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said Friday.
Many bars already were closed to indoor service. Cantrell's Friday announcement means they won't be able to sell drinks to go — a popular option year-round and especially during Mardi Gras. And she said the city is expanding the closure order to include bars that have "conditional" food permits that allowed them to operate as restaurants during various pandemic shutdowns.
Stepped-up crowd control begins this weekend, Cantrell said. The bar shutdown begins next Friday and runs through Mardi Gras — also known as Fat Tuesday — on Feb. 16.
In this March 19, 2020, file photo, a man stands and looks around on a nearly empty Bourbon Street, usually bustling with tourism and revelers in New Orleans.
Cantrell and other city officials at Friday's news conference said businesses that violate the rules face on-the-spot shutdowns and loss of licenses.
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And they warned visitors to the city during what is one of the biggest tourism times of the year to adhere to safety precautions.
"If by chance you have an aversion to wearing a mask, stay where you're at," said City Council member Jay Banks, who said he knows 23 people who have died of COVID-19. "if your expectation is the Mardi Gras of the past, don't waste your money."
The city's famous parades, which would ordinarily begin rolling this weekend, had already been cancelled.
Cantrell also announced restrictions on pedestrian and automobile traffic on Bourbon Street and other streets in the French Quarter that are usually bustling with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds during the Mardi Gras weekend. And she said fences will be erected along a street corridor outside the Quarter where crowds often gather on Fat Tuesday.
Photos: 'House floats' for Mardi Gras
All around New Orleans, thousands of houses have been decorated as floats because the coronavirus outbreak canceled the elaborate parades mobbed by crowds during the Carnival season leading to Fat Tuesday.
Photos: No 2021 Mardi Gras parades, so thousands make 'house floats'
Parade float workers Travis Keene, left, and Joey Mercer position a pelican while fellow crew member Chelsea Kamm, right, looks on while decorating a house in New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Passersby look at dinosaurs on the balcony of a mansion on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. The banner says "Thank you, Mayor, for keeping us safe." Because pandemic dangers from large and widespread crowds have canceled Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans this year, thousands of people are decorating their homes as floats. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
A top-hatted dinosaur, shown Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, is among Mardi Gras decorations in the yard of a mansion on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans. Because pandemic dangers from large and widespread crowds have canceled Mardi Gras parades in New Orleans this year, thousands of people are decorating their homes as floats. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Jessica Spencer, left, and Carley Sercovich discuss the progress of Mardi Gras "house float" decorations at Sercovich's home in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Carley Sercovich hot glues an addition to a coral reef of boxes and spray foam at the foot of her front steps in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Thom Karamus shows his paper mache head of the hookah-smoking caterpillar from "Alice in Wonderland," on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2021, in New Orleans. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Madeline Fox and her husband, Tom Fox, stand on their porch in River Ridge on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021, with decorations that Madeline Fox made to decorate their yard for Mardi Gras. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Charlotte "Charlie" Jallans-Daly, right, and her wife, Sharon Jallans-Daly, pose for a picture behind giant ruby slippers which are part of Wizard of Oz "house float" decorations for Mardi Gras. Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021 in New Orleans. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Foam balls studded with golf tees stand in for coronaviruses at this "house float" in the Algiers Point neighborhood of New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 15, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
Designer, Caroline Thomas looks at a house decorated like a parade float in New Orleans on Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. All around the city, thousands of houses are being decorated as floats because the coronavirus pandemic has canceled parades that usually take place on Mardi Gras. (AP Photo/Janet McConnaughey)
