City of Shreveport Refuses Rain Out Plan for Mardi Gras Parade

SHREVEPORT, LA – The weather forecast for Saturday looks very wet with some heavy showers most of the day. This forecast has the leaders of the Krewe of Centaur looking for possible alternatives for the Saturday parade.

Police Chief Wayne Smith tells KEEL News there is no way to move the parade to Sunday because more than 200 officers are coming in from other jurisdictions to help provide security for the parade on Saturday. They are not scheduled to be here on Sunday.

What Is Another Rain Out Plan?

We have learned members of the Krewe of Centaur approached the city about possiblly moving the parade to next Saturday before the Gemini Parade. The leaders of Gemini were ok with the idea. But city officials said this option would not work. KEEL News has learned the big issue would be the extra hours for police and firefighters who work the parade.

Tom Wyche with the Krewe of Gemini tells us he talked to Centaur officials about rolling at 1pm to make sure the parades ended before it got dark. That idea was pitched to the city. Centaur would probably have had to pare back some of the extra participants in the parade to make that happen, but was suggested as an option.

Ricky Bridges with the Krewe of Centaur tells us when we saw the forecast we began looking for other alternatives. But, after discussions with the city today, he says the date change is not happening and the Krewe of Centaur will roll this Saturday, February 3 at 2:45pm. But he does tell us he is concerned about the storm that is headed this way and is worried for the public and his Krewe members is there is lightning.

Why Can't the Parade Move to Next Saturday?

The biggest issue conveyed to the Krewes is that the officers work an 8 hour shift and lengthening the parade on one day might result in officers working a 12 hour shift which would cost the city overtime dollars.

Mayor Tom Arceneaux issued the following statement:

"The City received the request to postpone the Centaur parade until just prior to the Gemini parade, and it explored what it might take to accommodate the request. Having both parades back-to-back on such short notice does not allow for SPD to coordinate the additional hours or personnel required to accommodate the request. The City made a good faith effort to do so, but in the end was not able to make it work. We all hope for good weather on the three days involved with the Mardi Gras parades (February 3, 10, and 11)."