BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – A canceled Mardi Gras brings on a lot of emotions.
“We bring more people into downtown Baton Rouge than an LSU football game, so it’s a big deal,” Mary Jane Marcantel said.
“We’ve been here 32 years; we’ve had 31 parties,” Deborah Daniel said. “We usually get about 500 people at our house, and this year no party.”
Deborah Daniel lives in Spanish Town. The historic Baton Rouge neighborhood is known for its parade, costumes, and of course, the flamingos.
“It’s sad that nobody gets to have a parade this year, but we’d rather be safe than come to catch something,” Daniel said.
This year instead of decorating floats residents are decorating their homes. On February 13th, the day the parade was set to roll, residents are welcome to drive by and admire the homes. There will be a contest on who has the best decorations. Mary-Patricia Wray hired an artist to decorate her house. She says she’s glad there’s a creative alternative.
“It’s not as festive, it’s not as fun, we can’t be together, but it’s connected me with people all over Baton Rouge that I never would’ve met,” Wray said. “[It’s] the same way Mardi Gras tends to do when you’re standing at a parade.”
Though this year will be different residents say they’re happy to celebrate any way they can.
Residents have until Feb. 8th to decorate their homes.
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