Mardi Gras 2021: New Orleans embracing smaller celebrations on one of the Big Easy's biggest nights

New Orleans had previously announced that all Mardi Gras parades — a fixture of the city’s annual celebrations — would be canceled ahead of the holiday, amid concerns that such gatherings would become “super spreader events of the COVID-19 virus.”

"We’re worried about the entire city and that’s why we’re putting these guidelines in place," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said earlier this month when announcing the latest regulations for bar owners. Fast forward to the present, and these restrictions are contributing to a very different Mardi Gras for residents. For starters, NOLA’s famed Bourbon Street was closed off to vehicles and pedestrians as of Tuesday morning, and tourists are few and far between, as they’re actively being warned to steer clear of not only the city, but the state. "If people think they’re going to come to Louisiana, anywhere, or New Orleans and engage in the kind of activities they would have pre-pandemic then they are mistaken and quite frankly they are not welcome here to do that," Gov. John Bel Edwards warned potential visitors at a recent news conference.