The City of New Orleans is currently gripped with Saints fever

NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- As the New Orleans Saints move ever-closer to NFL gold, football isn't the only reason February is shaping up to be the most exciting month in the long history of the city. Just one week after the Super Bowl, Mardi Gras is set to once again sweep through the Big Easy, meaning that the first carnival celebration of the new decade could be the best and most memorable one in history.

Already in the French Quarter, the hottest pair of beads aren't purple, green and yellow, the traditional Mardi Gras colors. They are black and gold beads with fleur-de-lis, the colors and icon of the New Orleans Saints.

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is always the day before Ash Wednesday and can occur anytime between February 3rd and March 9th, depending on when Easter is held that year. Parades traditionally begin winding their way through New Orleans about two weeks before the big day so several krewes have already began rescheduling their February 7th lineups in anticipation of the Saints' inclusion in the final game. Local historian and Mardi Gras expert Arthur Hardy says, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. New Orleans deserves some good."

New Orleans has actually played host to the Super Bowl more times than any other city in the U.S. The Home of the Saints - the Superdome - is always used by the largest carnival organization in the city, the Krewe of Endymion, for their annual "Extravaganza," or ball. Kid Rock and REO Speedwagon have performed to an audience of tens of thousands of formally dressed revelers. The Astroturf in the dome is replaced as the Superdome transforms into an indoor parade complete with riding floats, beads and doubloons.

This year, 'Treme' star Steve Zahn and singer Taylor Dayne will reign as celebrity monarchs of Orpheus, another carnival organization. Every year celebrities flock to New Orleans for complete anonymity as it is a unique day of the year they can be masked and unrecognized.

Devoted Saints fan Rhonda Fitzmorris said, "Of course we love Mardi Gras, but the Saints have never come this close. This is our year!"

Complete information about Mardi Gras 2010 is available at http://www.mardigrasday.com

CONTACT

Carol Blake
MardiGrasDay.com
985 898 2158
masks@mardigrasday.com

SOURCE MardiGrasDay.com

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