Work Begins for Mardi Gras

NEW ORLEANS — Work got underway this week on next year’s Mardi Gras in the warehouses that hold the celebration’s huge parade floats, even as rescue workers outside dispensed food and water to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

“It might seem trivial to be discussing Mardi Gras at this point, but when you consider what Mardi Gras is to tourism and what tourism is to New Orleans, it’s very, very important,” said Barry Kern, president of Kern Studios, where many of the floats are housed.

Workers were busy repairing damaged floats at the studios, located in the city’s Algiers section, which reopened this week.

New Orleans’ Carnival season culminates with Mardi Gras on Fat Tuesday, the day before the traditional fasting season of Lent begins. Fat Tuesday, which next year falls on Feb. 28, typically brings in hundreds of thousands of tourists. The celebration is estimated to contribute about $1 billion to the city’s economy. City officials have said they expect the party to go on, though perhaps not with all the trappings of earlier years.