Everybody is concerned about the availability of bands since the schools are so fragmented. This has made the parades run a little faster so we've been crowding more parades into each day.

In November, under pressure from some of the super-Krewes expecially Endymion, Orleans extended its commitment to an 8 day event by including the weekend 10 days before Fat Tuesday. This means more police overtime pay. Is the money going to come from commercial sources?

Mardi Gras has always been a non-commercial event. Will Budweiser now become the "official" beer of Mardi Gras? Well it hasn't yet. Although offered the chance to "sponsor" Mardi Gras in a rushed promotion, corporate America failed to step up and pay $2.3 million to help with expenses. Only Glad Bags got in on the action as the official trash disposal bag of Mardi Gras. Part of the problem seems to have been the time allowed for marketing. Maybe next year we'll see more corporate sponsorship as marketing is scheduled to begin the day after Mardi Gras.

In January the plot thickened. With trailer delays continuing, FEMA extended the timeframe that they would pay for evacuee's hotel rooms until March 1st. That's the day after Mardi Gras. This put a few hotels in a bind. A local judge says they can't evict evacuees who pay. Reservations can't be honored. FEMA worked with a few hotels and the stir seems to have settled. FEMA is continuing to pay for thousands of hotel rooms and will do so at least until the next deadline of March 15th.