New Orleans is a city that loves to
have fun. Festivals turn the streets
into richly coloured, raucous parties,
the scent of spicy seafood soups and
stews fill the air, and, in the birthplace
of jazz, you’re rarely out of earshot of
thumping live music.
A bite to eat
Diners in New Orleans can sink their teeth into something a little
different for lunch by snapping up a plate of alligator. The delicacy
can be found in a variety of dishes in restaurants throughout the
city, ranging from gator sausages to
alligator cheesecake. Louisiana has
a large alligator population, with
between 1.5 and 2 million in the wild
and hundreds of thousands more
on alligator farms. It’s no surprise that
the giant reptiles have crept onto menus
to sit alongside local dishes like rice-based
jambalaya
and gumbo
,
a seafood filled stew.
Voodoo Queen
In the 19th century New Orleans was under
the spell of voodoo queen, Marie Laveau, who
introduced many in the city to the mysterious
religion. Voodoo followers believe that the living
world exists alongside the invisible world of the dead,
filled with spirits who watch over and inspire us. Stories
of dancing wildly around bonfires
have become legendary, but Marie
is also credited with helping
the poor and needy with her
practices. Today her influence
can still be felt round the
city – there are voodoo shops,
voodoo tours and even a
voodoo festival.
Super bridge
The Lake Pontchartrain
Causeway is the world’s longest
continuous bridge over water,
spanning an incredible 38.41km
(23.87mi). It’s a breathtaking
way to enter the city! Made
of two parallel bridges, the
causeway carves a direct route
from Mandeville in the north to
the suburbs of New Orleans in
the south.
French Quarter
The oldest neighbourhood in the city is the French
Quarter. As New Orleans was founded by the French,
and for a while ruled by the Spanish, this historic part
of the city is a beautiful blend of styles. The area is
famous for its balconied buildings and is a hotspot
for tourists who can enjoy mule-drawn carriage
rides, street performers, museums and
lively nightlife.
ALL THE FUN OF
THE Festival
New Orleans puts on a whopping 130 festivals a
year, which works out as roughly one every three
days. The annual Mardi Gras is the biggest
event, but there are all sorts of dazzling
and unusual parades. One highlight is a
procession of dogs dressed up in
weird and wacky outfits!
Hurricane Katrina
On the morning of 29 August 2005 a lethal storm hit Louisiana. Hurricane Katrina
spiralled into New Orleans, bringing heavy rain and winds of 200 kilometres
per hour (125 miles per hour), but it was the overflowing waters that followed
which caused the greatest devastation. The floods turned Katrina into one of the
deadliest storms ever to strike the United States.
Hurricane Katrina devastated much
of the coastal region of Mississippi
and southeastern Louisiana, but
New Orleans was the largest city
affected by the storm. The city was
in a vulnerable position, not only did
it lie below sea level, but it was also
surrounded by water on three sides
– Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi
River and marshland. The hurricane
caused a surge in water levels that
breached the city’s flood defences,
leaving the people of New Orleans
scrambling onto rooftops to escape.
Two days after the storm hit, 80 per
cent of the city was underwater.
While most of the city was evacuated, many people couldn’t get
away in time. Over 25,000 residents sought shelter in the Louisiana
Superdome. With the city destroyed, and food and fresh water in
short supply, people began to loot homes and businesses. The
National Guard were finally brought in to restore law and order.
Over 1,800 people died
as a result of Hurricane
Katrina and one million
were left homeless. It was
also the costliest natural
disaster in US history,
with more than 100 billion
dollars of damage caused
by the catastrophic storm.
Appalled by the scale
of destruction and
suffering, the world dug
deep. Money, specialist
equipment and workers
were all donated to the
relief campaign. The city
has taken a long time to
bounce back, but now,
with homes rebuilt and
stronger flood defences in
place, it is looking forward
to a bright future.