Forrest Brown and Marnie Hunter, CNN • Updated 16th February 2021
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(CNN) — No parades, limited gatherings and shuttered bars. A normally raucous Bourbon Street almost devoid of people. No sign of crowds who traveled far and wide from other places. And absolutely frigid weather on top of it all.
It doesn't sound like much of a Mardi Gras Day, does it? Beyond the imagination of anyone just a year ago, that's the reality on the ground in New Orleans in 2021.
City officials definitely did not want the holiday turning into a Covid-19 superspreader event.
"Please, I'm begging you, please do not attempt any large gatherings," New Orleans Police Superintendent Shaun Ferguson said at a news conference last week.