New Orleans Area Mardi Gras Parades Moved In Advance Of Super Bowl

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The first big parade weekend of the 2013 Carnival season is being moved up a weekend to avoid parades rolling during the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl is scheduled to be played on Feb. 3 in New Orleans — right when the Carnival season starts getting into high gear.

The Times-Picayune reports that the City Council unanimously approved the change Thursday.

The change means that the first big parade weekend will roll the weekend before the Super Bowl. The shift moves 10 parades to the weekend of Jan. 25-27 followed by two more weekends of parades before Mardi Gras Day on Feb. 12.

The krewes affected are Oshun, Cleopatra, Adonis, Pontchartrain, Choctaw, Sparta, Pygmalion, Alla, Carrollton and King Arthur.