Krewe of Boo has to skip Canal Street due to police shortage, City says

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - After a rush to get the parade together, there’s been a last minute cut to Krewe of Boo.

The first parade in 19 months is having to adapt to some route changes because the City says it doesn’t have enough police officers to provide the best security possible.

“I’m concerned about police shortages in Orleans,” Krewe Captain Brian Kern said. “What’s going to be a detriment to Carnival has nothing to do with COVID, it has to do with the police shortage. We need to resolve that now to make Mardi Gras happen.”

The parade starts at Elysian Fields in the Marigny, it then turns right on North Peters and rolls through the French Quarter to the Warehouse District.

The parade will no longer turn onto Canal Street. Instead, it will cut across to Tchoupitoulas.

Many businesses and their employees weren’t aware of the change and it bummed them out to learn that a potential bump in business wouldn’t be coming.

“When things like that come, they attract tourism,” Don Leo Rodriguez said. “Now that it’s missing Canal Street, one of the main streets, you know, the tourists are going to go somewhere else. That kind of sucks too. That puts down my commission, know what I’m saying?”

“With them cutting the parade, it’s slowing down our business, cutting down our hours,” Ashantilyah Lorig said.

Don’t be scared. 400 plus riders on 13 floats will still be rolling through town and there are plenty of events surrounding it like the Zombie Run, which already has 500 people signed up according to Kern.

“That’s why I do this, to make people happy and having pride in my city and making New Orleans the premier destination for Halloween in America,” Kern said.

The parade will roll at 6:30 p.m Saturday night.

Click HERE for more information on the parade and all of the events.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Click Here to report it. Please include the headline.

Copyright 2021 WVUE. All rights reserved.