After the cancellation of many Mardi Gras parades last year due to COVID-19, the citywide celebration is set to return to New Orleans, but not without some notable changes. 

City officials announced during a Dec. 21 press conference that staffing shortages in the police and public safety departments would force parade routes to be shortened, including those running through Uptown New Orleans. 

Magazine Street, Henry Clay Avenue, Tchoupitoulas Street and Jefferson Avenue will all be excluded from Uptown’s Mardi Gras parade routes.

Nearly every Uptown parade will now start at either the intersection of Napoleon Avenue and Carondelet Street or the intersection of Napoleon Avenue and Prytania Street. Each of these parades will follow Napoleon Avenue for a very short distance before turning eastward onto St. Charles Avenue. 

The Krewe of Elks Orleans, the Krewe of Crescent City and the Krewe of Zulu parades — which all run on Fat Tuesday — will retain their traditional routes through Uptown, according to city officials. 

The Krewe of Elks Orleans and the Krewe of Crescent City parades will both start at the intersection of Napoleon Avenue and South Claiborne Avenue and follow Napoleon Avenue south to St. Charles Avenue, where the parades turn and head for Canal Street. 

The Krewe of Zulu’s parade will begin at South Claiborne Avenue and Jackson Avenue and follow Jackson Avenue to St. Charles Avenue, where it will turn left and head Downtown.

Parades will return to Uptown on the weekend of Feb. 18 and will run every day from Feb. 23 until Fat Tuesday.