New Orleans Official Reopening Party

After that, the city stages a scaled-down, but highly emotional, Mardi Gras early next year, touted as the 150th anniversary of the bacchanal. City business leaders describe Mardi Gras 2006 as the city's official reopening party. "I've already got commitments from several krewes to hold their Mardi Gras balls here," said Dan King, general manager of the Sheraton on Canal Street, one of the city's largest hotels. Krewes are the social clubs that sponsor floats in Mardi Gras parades.

King said that several krewes would team up on the same float next year and that the entire event would be smaller than usual. Nonetheless, he said the event's success or failure will go a long way toward deciding the city's future. "We need to have that first big event to give people the confidence that we can handle it," he said. King spends much of his time these days on the phone, imploring convention planners not to cancel events scheduled for next year but instead to give the city a chance to show it can recover.

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