26 November 2005 New Orleans Mardi Gras given go ahead
Despite being ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans is to hold eight days of festivities for this year's Mardi Gras.
City officials announced this week that, although scaled down from the usual 11 days, the famous celebrations will go ahead.
Plans to hold just six days of celebrations were rejected and a compromise of eight days reached in recognition of the importance that the celebrations hold for the city.
It is hoped that the cash-strapped city will have the festivities funded by corporate sponsorship as the city needs to find $1.5 million to fund police, emergency responders and sanitation crews.
Subject to the mayor's approval, Mardi Gras celebrations will take place during the weekends of February 18th-19th and 23rd to 28th.
According to the Washington Post, tourism officials expect the number of rooms available to be reduced to around 20,000 instead of the usual 36,000.
The decision will come as welcome news to a city that was catastrophically destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. Flooding from the nearby rivers destroyed numerous homes and killed hundreds of people. 
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