Almost forty years ago, Southern Decadence started with a small group of New Orleans residents as a birthday party pub crawl. The celebration party made their way through the French Quarter.Today, the party has evolved into a traditional Labor Day weekend event attracting around 100,000 people.
Over the past four years however, two of the events were cut short as hurricanes thrashed the city. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina took a toll and last year Gustav, under evacuation orders, brought the festivities to an abrupt end.
This year, the weather may be raining, but there are no hurricanes in site which is a very welcome weather report as the event is a huge economic boost for French Quarter merchants as they are usually recovering economically from the slower summer months.
Southern Decadence is a week-long, predominantly gay-male event held in New Orleans, Louisiana and its environs by the gay and lesbian community during Labor Day Weekend, climaxing with a parade through the French Quarter on the Sunday before Labor Day.
Most events take place in or around the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans, centering especially on the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann streets.
For details on this event, visit their official website: http://www.southerndecadence.net/.
