Big Easy: Good Riddance To 2005

Ringing out one of the worst years in its history, New Orleans put on a rollicking New Year's Eve of memorials and merrymaking, from a traditional jazz funeral procession in honor of hurricane victims to an after-dark party.

"Thank God it's over!" folk singer Arlo Guthrie said from the French Quarter, where he performed for the crowd.

Despite the widespread destruction still evident four months after Hurricane Katrina, the city welcomed the New Year with fireworks, concerts, and in a twist on the Times Square ball drop, the lowering of a giant gumbo pot to mark the start of 2006.

Mayor Ray Nagin summed up how many in the beleaguered city felt, saying: "I'm so ready for 2006."

Before Katrina, the Big Easy's all-night bars, haute cuisine, steamboats and romantic French Quarter courtyards made it a favorite New Year's Eve destination for tourists.

This New Year's celebration, business leaders agreed, was the perfect chance to show the world that New Orleans still knows how to throw a party.

"New Orleans is back open, so come on down and start visiting," said Brian Kern, an organizer of the festivities, funded this year by private enterprise.

The French Quarter crowd - numbering in the thousands but smaller than usual - was an odd mix of locals, volunteers, contract workers and the occasional tourist, but everyone was celebrating.

"It looks like Hurricane Katrina never came by, looking at the faces," said Gary Washington, a 37-year-old merchant marine who was strolling down Bourbon Street, drink in hand.

"This is like the first night I've seen New Orleans like I remember," said Terry Cooney, a 50-year-old Red Cross Worker from New Jersey. "Everybody's in a party mood."

Even in the debris-strewn Lower Ninth Ward, the city's worst hit neighborhood, a midnight ceremony was organized, with generators set up to light two blocks of the devastated area as a message of hope.

"The symbolism behind this is that we are coming home, the residents of the Ninth Ward are coming home," said Tanya Harris.

A festive jazz funeral procession in honor of the storm's victims drew in bystanders as it wound through the Uptown neighborhood Saturday afternoon.

"We're getting into the spirit," said Sharif Nadir, a 59-year-old writer, as he hugged friends and joined in. "I just hope it puts people into the spirit to rebuild."

Marc Pagani, a photographer for a bawdy group of majorettes backing up the procession's brass band, confessed to some discomfort amid the revelry but also saw the need for some cheer.

"It's weird to be celebrating when so many people are homeless and miserable," he said. "But on the other hand, we need to celebrate."