Fans celebrate with parade on the streets of New Orleans

Party in front of Super Bowl Lix

Pearl chains instead of camels

Football fans are celebrating on the streets of New Orleans all weekend. The city is ready for the Super Bowl – and maybe not for the last time.

Jens Bistritsch reports from New Orleans

The mood in the city in front of the Super Bowl Lix is ​​exuberant, the bars in the Bourbon Street of New Orleans were so full that the bouncers had to reject visitors on Friday and Saturday evening. Not only the fans of the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs are looking forward to the final of the National Football League (NFL). Tens of thousands of football fans from New Orleans, the surrounding area and the entire USA also enjoy the atmosphere on site.

For everyone, the local organization committee had come up with something special this year: a parade on Saturday morning through the city like the Mardi Gras, the carnival in New Orleans, in a few weeks. But instead of camels, like in Germany, the beads, the plastic pearl chains flew from the 18 cars, which would also have been an honor for the parades in Mainz, Cologne or Düsseldorf. With their music, numerous Marching bands ensured that the spectators moved in rhythm.

“This is a great start to the Super Bowl weekend,” not only praised Robert Pritcherd from Philadelphia in an interview with T-Online. The Eagles fan was lucky enough to be drawn as one of the season ticket owners who were able to acquire several tickets from the team from the team from Philadelphia. He and his three friends paid $ 5,000 each. For this they also sit in the superdome in the lower rank.

Tess Brady from Kansas City paid almost as much at a ticket agency for a card at the top and still smiles satisfied when she gives this number. Her friend Carron Miesner also came along. However, she does not have a ticket for the final, but enjoys the atmosphere. The two women particularly appreciate that everything in New Orleans is “so compact” – accommodation, the French Quarter and the stadium are within walking distance. Hardly any other super bowl city in recent years-with the exception of Las Vegas-can say that.

Another plus for New Orleans is the weather, according to Pritchhard’s opinion. While the thermometer is currently climbing into the lower single-digit area in Philadelphia-and also in Kansas City-it was already showing 25 degrees Celsius and more in the Super Bowl City to the delight of the guests. Of course, celebrating in the streets is much more fun.

Despite all these advantages, New Orleans had to wait twelve years to get the Super Bowl contract again. The state of Louisiana and the local team, the New Orleans Saints, have spent over 500 million dollars in recent years to subject the superdomes built in 1975 to a facelift. Those responsible in New Orleans hope that after this year’s Super Bowl it will not take so long for the mega event to return to “Big Easy”.