Good Times Roll Again In New Orleans

Mardi Gras Is In Full Swing, 17 Months After Hurricane Katrina

(CBS/AP)  Crowds roared enthusiastically for parade floats on Fat Tuesday as residents weary of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath joined with rowdy visitors to put the task of rebuilding New Orleans aside for a day.

The first Mardi Gras parade out of the day was staged by the 1,250-member Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club, a predominantly black group that wears grass skirts and blackface makeup in parody of stereotypes from the early 1900s, when it was founded.

"I'm hyped up," said Ike Williams, a 42-year-old Atlanta contractor who wore black face, a frizzy black wig and a grass skirt as he marched in his first parade as a member of Zulu's Walking Warriors. "I couldn't sleep last night. This is the center of the universe right now."

Mardi Gras began with "adults-only" celebrations Monday night, reports Dave Cohen of CBS radio affiliate WWL-AM (audio), with Tuesday's events more "family-friendly."

Thousands spent the day along the parade routes or in the French Quarter as the city celebrated the second Mardi Gras since Hurricane Katrina.

"We never needed it more," said John Ferguson, who is still working to rebuild his house almost 18 months after the storm flooded 80 percent of the city. "I work all day at my job, then I work all night and all weekend on my house. I just want to eat, drink and have fun today."

Mardi Gras was the climax of a Carnival season that began on Jan. 6. Last year, officials estimated 700,000 people were in the city for the final weekend and Mardi Gras.

Crowds appear to be bigger this year and began filling the city earlier. The 30,000 hotel rooms now available were 95 percent occupied, according to Fred Sawyers, president of the Greater New Orleans Hotel & Lodging Association.

"We're going to make it happen," Mayor Ray Nagin told the crowd gathered at Gallier Hall, which served as city hall for over a century. "We're going to rebuild this city regardless."

Nagin rode a horse down St. Charles Avenue earlier in the day, but was not in costume.

"While you're in town, spend lots of money," Nagin urged the tourists. "We need the tax revenue bad."

Along the uptown parade routes crowds listened to Pete Fountain's Dixieland jazz as his Half Fast Marching Club kicked off the day. It was the 46th time the 76-year-old Grammy-winning clarinetist had made the march from Commander's Palace restaurant in the Uptown section to the Mississippi River.

"This is like old times," said Fountain, who lost his house along with his gold records and collection of instruments in the hurricane. "New Orleans will always get ready for a party."

Corinne Branigan, 40, wore a brown T-shirt with the slogan, "New Orleans. Established 1718, Re-established 8-29-05."

Last year's Mardi Gras seemed too soon, Brown said. But this year everything felt just right.

"This is everything that's great about New Orleans rolled into three days," she said. "Food, music — we've got the best marching bands in the country. It's like a big neighborhood. Everything else is forgotten for the time being."

In the French Quarter, the celebration was more raucous as revelers swapped flashes of flesh for beads tossed from balconies.

Costumes ranged from the glamorous to the satirical.

Judy Weaver, 49, and R.M. Elfer, 50, wore nuns' habits with camouflage capes as the Angry Little Sisters of the Apocalypse. They carried rulers bearing the slogan "weapons of mass instruction," and what they called novena bombs — originally, toilet floats — and rapid-fire rosaries.

"We are cleaning up crime in the city," said Weaver.