Carnival season offers New Orleans hope after truck attack | In the images of the News
Women dressed as angels, hands folded in prayer, marched through New Orleans Monday night to celebrate the first parade of the carnival season, just blocks from where 14 people were killed by a hit-and-run driver five days ago.
Hundreds of people filled the streets during the annual Joan of Arc parade through New Orleans’ historic French Quarter. Organizers said they wanted the event to convey the energy of the city, which is struggling with a violent New Year’s Eve attack, but perseveres in beloved traditions.
“We’re celebrating life,” said Antoinette de Alteriis, ship captain of the Krewe de Jeanne d’Arc. “We choose hope and we choose joy.”
Before the parade, United States President Joe Biden paid tribute to the victims at the nearby St Louis Cathedral.
The attacker, an American citizen who declared himself a supporter of ISIL (ISIS), was fatally shot in a shootout with police.
The Joan of Arc Parade, which began in 2008 and falls on the French hero’s birthday, marks the end of the Christmas season, the arrival of Carnival and the countdown to Mardi Gras. The next eight weeks are spent in feasting, drinking and revelry before Maundy Wednesday and the fasting associated with Lent.
Life Sacco, 17, served as Joan of Arc in the parade, wearing a costume and raising a sword. The weight of the parade, which tells the story of the life of Joan of Arc – from military courage to burning at the stake to sainthood – was not lost on Sacco. She said that the patron saint of France represents what the city needs: courage, endurance and the power of hope.
“It’s such an emotional time for the city of New Orleans right now, you can see it on everyone’s faces,” she said. “But I feel the first parade of the year could help lift spirits.”
New Orleans has the largest and most famous carnival celebrations in the US, with street parties, fancy balls and parades from simple neighborhood walking clubs to elaborate high-tech extravaganzas with massive rafts loaded with flashing lights and giant animated figures.
