Mardi Gras for everyone

In the French Quarter the atmosphere is risque and after dark can be downright raunchy.

On Fat Tuesday, it's worth a trip to the Quarter to see the costumes, which range from elaborate to almost nonexistent. The Forty-third Annual Bourbon Street Awards Show, billed as the ultimate costume contest, will be held on Mardi Gras Day at noon at the corner of St. Ann and Bourbon streets. The costumes are eye-popping, both for their workmanship and for the gender-bending involved.

Costuming has been declining for years, but true Mardi Gras buffs still show up along the parade routes on Fat Tuesday in costume. The outfits don't have to be intricate. Simple costumes adorn whole families or groups, making both an attention-grabbing display and an easy way to spot members who wander off.

This year there are more flights coming into New Orleans, although the airport is still not at full capacity.

Hotel rooms are up to 30,000, still less than the 38,000 available before Katrina, but up from the 24,000 last year.

"We are off to a moderately good start for reservations," Fred Sawyers, president of the Greater Hotel and Lodging Association, said. "But typically things pick up quickly. That final weekend really closes out fast."

Hotels are expecting to be over 90 percent full, Sawyers said.

Restaurants open and even extend their hours during Carnival, according to Wendy Waren, director of communications for the Louisiana Restaurant Association.

"Some offer special menus," Waren said.

Reservations fill fast, she said. Some restaurants along the parade route, as well as restaurants and bars in the French Quarter, offer deals that allow patrons to have unlimited access to the facility, food, drink and, just as important - a bathroom.

This year's Zagat Survey of New Orleans - the first of the city since Katrina - includes reviews of leading hotels, night clubs, bars and other attractions. It includes 390 restaurants, down from the last survey two years ago, which had more than 500 restaurants.

Businesses that have reopened since Katrina primarily are in the French Quarter, downtown and the Garden District - all parts of New Orleans tourists know and love, Zagat said.

In addition to Mardi Gras on the street, there is a multimedia exhibit, "Carnival," at the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Louisiana Children's Museum explores carnival traditions throughout the world.

The Mardi Grass Indians, black carnival groups that make extravagant costumes and stage mock battles throughout the city on Fat Tuesday, can be difficult to find. Their parade routes are apt to change quickly. But the Wild Magnolia Indians will give a free outdoor concert at the Presbytere in Jackson Square on Saturday, Feb. 17.

The Monday before Mardi Gras, once a day to rest up for the big event, had now become a daylong celebration. There is a full range of activities at the Riverwalk near the French Quarter. A day of live music and food is capped at 6 p.m. when a Coast Guard Cutter delivers Rex, King of Carnival to take over the city.

"Mardi Gras is uplifting for me," celebrity chef Leah Chase said. She's been watching parades in New Orleans since the 1930s. "I don't care how depressed you are, it will get you out of it. Then the next day we go to church and pray."

St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square will offer Ash Wednesday Mass. Many of those attending are still draped with beads.

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