HAPPY MARDI GRAS! TODAY’S PARADES maps, 2B
REX, ZULU BULLETINS INSIDE TODAY
UPTOWN: Zulu, 6:30 a.m. l Rex, 9:30 a.m. l COVINGTON: Carnival in Covington, 9:15 a.m. l
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T u e s d ay, M a r c h 4, 2025 Monarch Bianca Del Rio tosses beads to the crowd as the Krewe of Orpheus rolls on Monday.
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Flat Tuesday Threat of severe weather prompts Rex and Zulu to shorten routes while Jefferson Parish cancels parades
BY MIKE SMITH, JAMES FINN, BOB WARREN and LARA NICHOLSON Staff writers
STAFF PHOTOS By SCOTT THRELKELD
The Krewe of Orpheus rolls to the theme ‘As Above So Below’ on the Uptown route on Monday.
Flambeaux light the way for the Krewe of Orpheus on Monday.
CARNIVAL 2025 INSIDE, 4A, 1B
NOLA.COM
The threat of severe weather has left New Orleans Mardi Gras traditions at risk, with parades being shortened or canceled, warnings issued over flying debris and officials urging extreme caution on the eve of the region’s biggest celebration. The threat of storms and dangerously high winds has forced Zulu and Rex to plan to roll with streamlined processions and much earlier start times — if they are allowed to go ahead at all. In a city deeply enmeshed in tradition, cancellations would be nothing short of historic. The new schedule will see Zulu roll at 6:30 a.m. instead of 8 a.m., while Rex will follow about 9:30 a.m. instead of 10:30 a.m. The route will be shortened, with Zulu following its traditional path until Poydras Street, eventually stopping at Loyola Avenue, and Rex turning left on Jackson Avenue before finishing on Claiborne Avenue. There will be no marchers or bands. The Krewe of Elks truck parade was rescheduled to Sunday. Jefferson Parish has canceled its two parades outright, with no clear indication of when they could be rescheduled. Parades on the northshore were also moved earlier or postponed as forecasters warned of wind gusts reaching as high as 60 mph along with the possibility of hail and tornadoes. The National Weather Service issued a high wind warning for between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., though strong gusts would begin even before that. Rex, in existence since 1872, has not been canceled due to weather since 1933. Zulu, started in 1909, is believed to have never been called off for that reason, a spokesperson said. Organizers and officials will be watching closely
ä See TUESDAY, page 7A
King Zulu 2025 Rodney P. Mason Jr. continues his father’s legacy in club At 39, he grew up on ‘The Lion King’ and is a millennial Mardi Gras monarch
‘They just kind of adopted me,’ lawyer Garry Jordan says
BY LARA NICHOLSON
BY KEITH SPERA
Staff writer
Staff writer
Rodney P. Mason Jr. was reluctant to join the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club. He was an Alabama A&M University undergraduate when his father, a Zulu stalwart, first extended the invitation. “I looked at it as my dad’s club,” Mason recalled. “You pass down Broad Street and you see those old guys hanging out (at Zulu headquarters). They were older than my dad.” But he soon reconsidered. At 21, he became Zulu’s youngest full-fledged member. Those “old
WEATHER HIGH 78 LOW 58 PAGE 6B
Argus king at home in Mardi Gras krewe
RODNEY P. MASON JR. King Zulu 2025
KRISTEN BONDS MASON Queen Zulu 2025
guys” became his buddies. arch. Fast-forward 18 years. On Fat The lion logo on his king’s cocoTuesday, Mason will reign as Zu- nuts and king’s sash was inspired lu’s 109th king four days shy of by “The Lion King,” his favorite his 40th birthday, making him a ä See ZULU, page 5A true millennial Mardi Gras mon-
J. “Garry” Jordan didn’t grow up in the New Orleans area, but he’s certainly embraced it as his home since moving here nearly four decades ago. The 62-year-old Covington resident has worked as an attorney in the area for 35 years. He raised two daughters and a son on the northshore with his wife, Mary Ellen, and has been a member of two Mardi Gras krewes, where he discovered a sense of community in the Crescent City. “They just kind of adopted me, I guess,” Jordan said. For Mardi Gras this year,
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King Argus XL J. ‘Garry’ Jordan Jordan was scheduled to ride through Metairie with the Krewe of Argus, Jefferson Parish’s paramount peacock-themed parade, as King Argus XL alongside
ä See ARGUS, page 5A
12TH yEAR, NO. 204