NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Carnival season - which sees more than 70
parades roll through greater New Orleans before Fat Tuesday - is
getting one more.
The Saints-crazed city plans to celebrate the team's first-ever
trip to the Super Bowl with a parade to honor them.
"There will be some type of massive parade in the city of New
Orleans win or lose," Mayor Ray Nagin told reporters Tuesday
night.
Although his office tried to back away from the certainty of a
parade on Wednesday, Nagin said he had already begun discussions
with Saints officials and others.
"It's not set in concrete yet," Barry Kern said on Wednesday.
"But I think it will be by the end of the day."
One of the many things to be decided is who would pay for the
parade.
New Orleans' latest budget cut funding in several areas and put
most city offices on a four-day week.
Police Superintendent Warren Riley estimated the parade would
attract 200,000 people and security for it could run as much as
$300,000.
Police spokesman Bob Young said Wednesday that amount could be
cut, however, if the Saints parade was to roll behind a regularly
scheduled Carnival parade, since police would already be on the
parade route.
Meanwhile, parades scheduled to roll on the first big weekend of
Mardi Gras - Feb. 6-7 - scrambled to keep from interfering with the
Saints' matchup against the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl on
Feb. 7.
The Krewe of Alla moved its parade from Sunday to Saturday and
will roll behind Adonis and Choctaw.
Carrolton and King Arthur will still parade on Sunday, but will
both start one hour earlier - 11 a.m. for Carrolton and noon for
King Arthur.
In Houma, the krewes of Hyacinthians and Titans will roll an
hour earlier so Houma residents can catch the Carnival parades and
make it home in time for the Super Bowl kickoff.
Nagin said the divisional playoff game against Arizona and
Sunday's NFC championship game against Minnesota each generated
between $500,000 and $750,000 for the city's economy.
Saints fans prize the upcoming Super Bowl appearance, the first
in the franchise's 43 years of existence. This is only the ninth
winning season for the club, which did not get its first one for
two decades.
The 31-28 overtime victory over the Vikings on Sunday night
marked the first time the Saints had hosted an NFC championship
game.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
