![Shreveport Mayor Tom Arceneaux addresses the media at a news conference in Veterans Park on Wednesday [January 31], listing all the agencies coming together to help keep the peace on the Krewe of Centaur Parade on Saturday, February 3, 2024.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/f06161d/2147483647/strip/true/crop/1920x1440+0+0/resize/840x630!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6c%2F94%2F92ba268c492eb3220819782617f5%2Fparade-newser.jpg)
The Krewe of Centaur expects to see more than 200,000 people along the parade route on Saturday [February 3]. How to safely manage a parade of such size prompted a news conference on Wednesday [January 31], that brought together a team of emergency and law enforcement agencies which will oversee the 5-mile long parade route.
It all begins at the southern edge of downtown Shreveport, on Clyde Fant Parkway at Lake Street. The route will take Centaur’s 30 or so floats south along the parkway, then turn right onto Shreveport-Barksdale Highway heading west. The parade will take a final turn [left], and head south on East Kings Highway. It all comes to an end just before Preston Avenue near Shreveport’s Duck Pond.
Mayor Tom Arceneaux introduced all the agencies involved, which included the Shreveport Police and Fire Departments, the Caddo Parish Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police, the Shreveport City Marshal’s Office, along with Louisiana Probation and Parole. “All of these people have to coordinate to make sure that our citizens can enjoy their parade and be safe in the process and that’s what our goal is,” as Arceneaux added, “I just want to say thank you to all the law enforcement agencies that are participating this year and helping us make sure this is a safe parade.”
Back in the fall, the Shreveport Police Officer’s Association Union President Michael Carter cautioned that law enforcement staffing for the parade needs a minimum of 300-officers. So, near the end of the news conference at Veterans Park on the Clyde Fant Parkway, Police Chief Wayne Smith was asked about the final numbers for officer staffing of the parade. Smith answered, “We will have in excess of 200 thanks to all our area partners who came in to help us out. There’ll be no lacking service to our citizens. We still have full complements of patrol officers that are not involved in the parade.”
Law enforcement and emergency responders emphasized that for citizens who plan to drink to have a designated driver and do not get behind the wheel. That’s when Vanessa Braggs came to the podium to speak to the media. While holding up a framed family portrait, Braggs described how she lost her husband and two young sons, 5-year-old Nick and 7-year-old Justin after a head-on crash with a drunk driver in 1994.
Over the years, Braggs has represented “Mothers Against Drunk Driving,” better known to many as MADD, and recalled somehow surviving the crash only to face the toughest decision of her life – involving her youngest son Nick. “That decision that night that that man chose to drive, it took away my family. My baby boy, I had to make a decision, and that’s because his brain would not stop swelling. He was on life support and I had to make the decision to take him off life support and let him go away, because of a choice, because of a decision.” Braggs concluded in a direct plea to the public, “I ask you, during this Mardi Gras season, that you would be responsible, that you would get a designated driver and that you can have fun, but not drink and drive.”
Officials emphasized that the Krewe of Centaur Parade will start at 3:00 p.m., rain or shine on Saturday [February 3]. That’s followed the next weekend with the Krewe of Gemini Parade, which runs on Saturday, February 10. Gemini floats will have the same parade route and same start time as Centaur.
African American History Parade
Four hours before the Krewe of Centaur Mardi Gras Parade rolls, the 36th annual African American History Parade gets underway in downtown Shreveport at 11:00 a.m. Organizers say the parade features more than 200 entries which include floats, marching bands, live music, and more. It starts at the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. The African American History Parade route will travel east along Milam Street, then turn left onto Market Street heading north. And finally, another left-hand turn puts the parade on Texas Street heading west, until coming to Common Street, where it ends.
The parade helps kick off Black History Month in February. For the past 21 years, 13 states have been involved in the celebration.
