new orleans vaccinated masked and readytorevel new orleans residents began ushering in carnival season thursday with a rolling party on the citys historic streetcar line an annual march honoring joan of arc in the french quarter and a collective wary eye on coronavirus statistics carnival officially begins each year on jan 6 the 12th day after christmas and usually comes to a raucous climax on mardi gras or fat tuesday which falls on march 1 this year thursdays festivities came two years after a successful mardi gras became what officials later realized was an early southern superspreader of covid19 and nearly a year after city officials canceled 2021 parades this year the party is going on despite rapidly rising covid19 cases driven by the omicron variant without a doubt we will have mardi gras 2022 mayor latoya cantrell said during a thursday morning kickoff event where participants removed protective masks long enough to sample slices of king cake a seasonal delicacy having a mardi gras and a successful and healthy mardi gras is as important to this regions mental health as it is important to the economic health of this city added james reiss an official with the rex organization a 150yearold carnival group still in a season known for excess the virus prompted restraint at bywater bakery owner chaya conrad usually has a daylong block party with live music to mark the beginning of carnival season after a virtual recorded concert last year she had planned to return to the big block party thursday but after the virus sickened many of her employees over christmas she canceled the extravaganza instead a piano player on a flatbed truck played as customers snapped up king cakes i dont need the musicians getting sick i dont need my customers getting sick and i dont need my other half of my staff getting sick conrad said when this dies down then well have the big block party in what has become a traditional kickoff to the season a group known as the phunny phorty phellows boarded one of the historic st charles line streetcars thursday night along with a small brass band vaccinations and protective masks were required and seating on the streetcar was limited larger more opulent parades will follow in february as mardi gras nears it was certainly the right thing to do to cancel last year said dr susan hassig a tulane university epidemiologist who also is a member of the krewe of muses and rides each year on a huge float in the muses parade we didnt have vaccines there was raging and very serious illness all over the place now she notes the vaccination rate is high in new orleans where 81 of all adults are fully vaccinated according to the citys statistics and while people from outside the city are a big part of mardi gras crowds cantrells antivirus measures include proof of vaccination or a negative test for most venues sharing hassigs cautious optimism