Krewe of Lul unable to have backup plan in place in case of future cancellations

For the second straight year, the Krewe of Lul parade was canceled due to inclement weather.

Parade organizer Debbie Dufresne Vial said that there was no way the parade, which was supposed to roll at noon last Saturday, could have been rescheduled.

"It was a hard call, especially two years in a row," Vial said.

Vial said that there is no date the parade could be rescheduled on because many floats and marching groups involved also participate in other parades on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

She also said that Lul cannot parade before or after the Krewe of Des Allemands parade because the St. Charles Parish Sheriff’s Office would not be able to accommodate both parades in different locations and the 27 Lul floats will not all fit in the Des Allemands staging area.

The Krewe has been around for 35 years and only the past two parades have ever been canceled.

The parade was canceled both years due to tornado warnings and strong wind and rain.

"It’s mother nature – she does what she wants," Vial said. "Had it been only a light drizzle, we wouldn’t have canceled.

"There is no way we could have people out parading in that weather."

Vial said that moving the parade to an earlier weekend was discussed after last year’s cancellation, but that most people were not in favor of the change.

"There are a lot of things that play into the fact that most people don’t want to move it up a week," she said.

Vial said that people like the parade to roll on the Saturday before Mardi Gras because many adults have a long weekend and children have the following week off of school. She said people also have family coming in that weekend that would not be able to come a week earlier.

The Krewe of Des Allemands rolled Sunday at 1 p.m. as scheduled.