Krewe of Lul organizers recently announced the Luling parade hopes to roll on its previously scheduled February 2024 parade route and date despite extensive Paul Maillard Road construction, with the krewe’s formal parade day application being submitted this month to public officials.
The parade, which has entertained local parade goers in St. Charles Parish since 1978, is currently set to roll at Noon on Saturday, February 10, pending public official approval. Krewe of Lul Captain Debra Dufresne Vial said at present time the krewe is remaining optimistic about plans to maintain its traditional parade route, which gathers and starts at Winnwood Shopping Plaza on Paul Maillard Road.
“We’ve spoken to the [road construction] contractor doing the work, and they said they didn’t see it would be a problem to still line up at Winnwood and be able to pull out onto Paul Maillard,” Vial said. “We’re hoping we can still have it, and we’ll see what the final outcome is; we’ll be able to let everyone know as soon as we can.”
Paul Maillard Road, Vial noted, would only be restricted to one lane around Winnwood Shopping Center, opening up to two lanes for the remainder of the route.
Like most parades of its type, the Krewe of Lul must submit a formal parade day application with public officials each year, who must first approve the route, and then coordinate with local government for various public services such as traffic control and local police department security to assist.
Given the complexity of the current Paul Maillard Road construction, the Krewe of Lul is submitting its application a little early this year given there may be additional complications that need to be worked out with public officials. Krewe members also need time to prepare, ordering their costumes and throws, renting trailer floats and decorating them, arranging bands and dance teams to attend and other scheduling necessities that go into planning a parade.
The 2024 Krewe of Lul parade, thus far, promises to be the same size as 2023’s parade, which Vial said included “75 units – 25 of which were floats.”
The Krewe of Lul captain mentioned her organization does anticipate possibly making one change to the end of the parade route, although the details have not yet been worked out with parish officials.
The Krewe of Lul’s traditional parade route makes a “P” shaped loop starting at Winnwood Shopping Plaza. The parade heads north on Paul Maillard, right on River Road, right on Sugarhouse Road, left on Angus Drive, turns left back onto Paul Maillard Road and finally ends where it began at Winnwood Shopping Plaza.
Vial said the final turn at the end of the parade route, when the parade turns left onto Paul Maillard Road from Angus Drive, currently does not appear possible with road construction. This complication may cause the parade to have to end at a different termination point.
“That is going to be the biggest decision that is going to have to be made – how we’re going to handle the parade ending,” Vial said, one that will require public official input before any changes are made.
No concrete alternatives for the Krewe of Lul parade ending have been proposed yet. Vial hopes to have more details on the parade status soon, once public officials have had sufficient time to formally review the krewe’s parade day application and provide feedback. Krewe of Lul organizers are hopeful they will have answers for parade goers sometime in early January 2024.
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