One parade down; several more to enjoy
Published 6:02 pm Wednesday, January 24, 2018
By Lorenzo Salinas
There will be no Thursday parade at Southeast Texas Mardi Gras this year. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of opportunities for fun, entertainment and festivities — all at a discount price.
Laura Childress with SETX Mardi Gras assured people on the event’s Facebook site that the grounds would still be open Feb. 8 along with concerts, carnival, food vendors and arts and crafts. In addition, that Thursday would be Dollar Night — where entry fee is only $1.
Childress explained that the decisions were made on account of Harvey and done as a way of reaching out to those most affected by the storm. In fact, there was no Thursday parade scheduled when organizers came back.
“After Harvey, we decided not to do it this year,” she said. “The reason being why we did away with it was also the reason why we introduced Dollar Night — it’s for anybody struggling with hurricane issues.
“We were trying to be generous and trying to make it all work out.”
Childress also asked a question she and other organizers had after the storm: “Would the city be ready?”
“The event will be just like always. The only thing we did was do away with the Thursday parade,” Childress said. “The reason we did that was the shorter parade was less attended. It’s not one of the bigger ones. We were trying to affect the least amount of people.”
Childress said the omission was still noticed, especially on Facebook where several people had left comments regarding Thursday’s lack of parade.
“We wanted to let people know that the full event itself was full steam ahead,” she said.
Childress stressed that anyone who would like to be in the Sunday parade could still sign up for it. In addition, people still have the opportunity to join in Friday’s Golf Cart and ATV Parade if they bring their own carts.
“There are a lot of options out there,” she said.
Childress would direct anyone interested in signing up or learning more about this year’s Mardi Gras to the organization’s website at www.mardigrasportarthur.com.
The 2018 Southeast Texas Mardi Gras festivities begin Feb. 8 in downtown Port Arthur.
Tickets can purchased online at their site or can be purchased in person at Retail Merchants Credit Association on FM 365.
This year’s festival features eight different parades over the course of three days, beginning Friday, Feb. 9. The list of parades includes Krewes Royalty March, Valero Krewe of Krewes Parade and Total Krewe of Aurora Grand Parade.
