Spanish Town parade gets later start

The Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade is definitely not starting at noon on Saturday, as originally planned, though there’s slight variation between the times at which city-parish officials and parade organizers say it will roll. The city-parish says the parade will now start at 3:30 p.m., but Bruce Childers—president of the group that puts the parade on—says it’s unlikely the parade will get rolling before 4 p.m. because it typically takes about two hours to get the floats staged. The new staging time for krewes riding in the parade is 2 p.m. “But if they’re saying 3:30 (p.m.), that’s fine, we’ll try for 3:30 (p.m.),” Childers says. Mayor Kip Holden and the Baton Rouge Police Department gave Childers the option of either canceling the parade altogether or delaying the start time due to public safety concerns over severe weather expected to blow through Baton Rouge Saturday morning and early afternoon, he says. “Obviously we don’t want a repeat of last year,” when heavy rains drowned out much of the parade, Childers says. “The parade krewes have put a lot of time and expense into this, and we want the crowds to be there and the participants to enjoy themselves.” The Krewe of Poseidon parade, which traditionally rolls after the Spanish Town parade on the same route, is not rolling this year, Childers says, but that decision was made months ago and is not weather-related. Saturday’s forecast calls for an 80% chance of rain, with severe thunderstorms, lightning and high winds likely. —Steve Sanoski