Dr David McGillivray & Professor Gayle McPherson

Mardi Gras New Orleans: Policy intervention in an historical event

Mardi Gras: The Greatest Free Show on Earth • Historical context

• Mardi Gras New Orleans an historical ‘carnival’ (circa 1750)

• Historically about the inversion of hierarchy (Gilmore)

• Was predominantly ‘local’ until late 20th C

• Civic boosterist agenda precipitated globalisation (Gotham, 2004)

• Now a significant economic generator for the City:

• Add in figures

• Policy issues

• Freedom and control

• Creativity and Regulation

• Public order and public safety

• Standardisation and uniqueness

Methodological notes

• Research process tied into MSc International Events Management case study development

• 1. Observation:

• Attended Mardi Gras 2008 and conducted visual ethnography

• 2. Semi-structured interviews with public and ‘private’ agencies with stake in Mardi Gras event:

• Stephen Hales, Rex Krewe

• Ernest Collins, Mayor’s Office

• Kate Schneiderman, City Government

• Blaine Kern, Mardi Gras World

• Sandi, New Orleans Convention Bureau

Mardi Gras New Orleans

Contradictory ‘brand messages’

Embedded family and community celebration

Globally recognised ‘anything goes’ event

CreepingCommercialisation

Free parades now subject to market exchange

Sponsorship of ancillary ‘events’

Commodification of heritage in Mardi Gras World

Regulating Mardi Gras

Event governed by NOPD – significant presence and cost

Parade routes agreed by city authorities – for ease of control

Permit system governs ‘appropriate’ Krewes

Contested identities

Mardi Gras an opportunity to parade alternative identities in public space

Tolerated during the Carnival period (inverted hierarchies) - and beyond?

Display of racial, gendered and class-based identities

The spectacle as an organising principle

Increasingly celebrity endorsed

‘New’ superkrewes – democratising process?

Parade size and ‘wow’ factor constantly increasing

Spectacle driven by need to capture media attention

Analysis • As the festival has attracted increased global media attention and has become synonymous with Destination New Orleans, it has become the target of the city’s place

marketers as the post-Katrina panacea.

• The traditions and heritage of the event has been contested by the host population and there has been a reassertion of more long-lasting and rooted values on behalf of the Krewes and the membership which permits these social organisations to put on the Greatest Free Show on Earth.

• The local state has been forced to act as an enabler or facilitator for the festival, unable to introduce direct control (other than through the permit system) but instead left to regulate the nature of Mardi Gras celebrations in keeping with the liberal values of the early 21st century.

• The state has little control over the all-powerful Krewes and yet these organisations are of fundamental importance to the ‘product’ which the quasi-autonomous state organisations (e.g. the New Orleans Convention Bureau) are charged with the responsibility to promote. The economic returns are potentially lucrative, in terms of visitor expenditure and tax revenues, but again the local state has limited powers to enter agreements with major sponsors or to prevent others riding on the back of the event to promote their own products. An overly-determined event risks the wrath of the powerful Krewes and of the watching public, yet at the same time, the dangers associated with an amorphous, free flowing event parading through the streets of a large (and increasingly crime ridden) city are also significant – both in terms of public safety and reputational damage. The approach taken by the local government in New Orleans can be viewed as creeping regulation. It has, slowly but surely, attempted to grasp some control over the event by developing a tighter permit system through which each and every parade must be processed. This approach allows the local state to ‘guide’ and ‘frame’ the sort of parades it judges as acceptable and, conversely, the ones it views as inappropriate in a liberal and tolerant city (e.g. those with closed memberships). The city has introduced some measures to support, shape and enhance Mardi Gras but these have been restricted to forcing Krewes to open up their memberships and eradicate discrimination. However, even here the policy and regulatory levers were relatively ineffective, because as private organisations, the Krewes were not bound to change their rules and several simply stopped parading on those ‘public’ routes where the legislation applied.

 

Drawing back from the specific state intervention approaches found in New Orleans, it is worth briefly referring to other, similar, historical events which have faced the pressure for destination branding of their cultural assets. A good example is the San Fermin fiesta held annually in Pamplona, Spain. This event, most commonly referred to as the Pamplona Bull Run, has become popularised in media and tourism discourses for its uniqueness and, apparent, authenticity. However, like New Orleans Mardi Gras, this event is reliant upon visitors, who legitimate the introduction of new and revised social values in the city (Ravenscroft and Matteucci, 2003) as residents ‘perform’ for tourism. The deviant behaviour associated with festivals (and carnivals) is managed to the extent that liminality is packaged as a symbol of differentiation for the destination, whilst social control over behaviour is increased in a similar vein to that experienced in New Orleans. Similar issues can be said of the famous Palio horse race which takes place annually in Siena, Italy. This event is more than 600 years old and is sustained by the traditions of the Contradas of Siena, districts with their own government, coat of arms, titles, emblems, colours and population. These institutions race in the Palio in July and August each year attracting a significant level of tourism visitation and media coverage. Berruti (2008) argues that the Palio plays a crucial role in city imaging, whilst also representing a hugely significant ‘local’ cultural tradition which sustains community life through song, costume, rituals and, even, violence. However, as its authenticity has become attractive to media narratives (which have often focused on the risks inherent in the races around the Campo square) so the host has sought to challenge representations and reclaim the event from its media representation. Now, the use of ‘coats, flags, costumes, colours and their reproduction on objects or publications must be authorised by the Consorzio’ (Berruti, 2008: 19), a contrada consortium set up to defend the historical traditions of the Palio against tourism exploitation. Commercial rights for the public ceremony are also now controlled. Whilst this control is not the sole preserve of state sponsored bodies, nonetheless, quasi-governmental agencies are involved in protecting the Siena Palio in a way that is more difficult in New Orleans and Pamplona. The three examples do, however, illustrate the presence of a policy pull towards the increasing regulation of historical events and their promotion through media and tourism discourses. This process is neither seamless nor uncontested, but the direction of travel is clear and, as we will argue in the final chapter, this pull is symptomatic of an increasingly globalised policy drive.

 

 

 

Conclusions • The case of Mardi Gras New Orleans is illuminating for event policy on a number of levels

• Firstly, it illustrates the limits of state intervention in the promotion and delivery of major events. In governing Mardi Gras, the local state and its commercial partners are left relatively impotent in the face of a powerful lobby group from the third sector who are the ultimate event owners of the Carnival celebrations.

• Following the destination branding logic discussed in chapter 6, the New Orleans authorities want to utilise Mardi Gras as a means of representing the ‘personality’ of the city. However, as they attempt to intervene to ensure safety, security and sustainability, the city government threatens to dilute the appeal of the event to its loyal audience.

• In navigating a minefield of risks and rewards, the authorities are left to adopt a fine balancing act between ‘freedom’ – a laissez faire governance and ‘regulation’ - the desire for a more interventionist, micro management of the Mardi Gras celebrations.

• Navigating these (often) competing agendas is increasingly common for destinations heavily reliant on their hallmark events. The San Fermin Fiesta in Pamplona and the Palio in Siena are excellent examples of free events with mass popularity now facing increased pressure towards commercial exploitation, media intrusion and (potential) loss of historical value.

• How destinations successfully ameliorate these tensions, whilst retaining the uniqueness of their offering, will determine their future position in the global events marketplace.