Message From Lake Wales Mardi Gras
Dear Mardi Gras Krewes and Supporters,
Due to the ongoing and worsening pandemic of Covid-19 the Mardi Gras committee and volunteers have decided to drastically scale down the 2021 celebration. This decision is not an easy one for us to make, but we feel it is the right decision facing the current circumstances. Lake Wales Mardi Gras has grown and changed drastically over the last few years, we have raised and donated nearly $30,000 for local non-profits and forever changed the parade and festival for the better.
Unfortunately, there will be no parade or celebration at the park on Lake Wailes Lake this year for several reasons. As of right now, the City of Lake Wales has a ban on all large scale events and will not issue permits for them. For that to change, the 14 day average of positive tests for Polk County must drop below 5%. We have been following this for months now and the numbers aren’t getting better. The likelihood of the threshold being met in time for us to properly plan the event are pretty slim.
Some of our concerns are also financial in nature, all things considered, Mardi Gras must make enough money to cover the costs of the 2 day event and parade. We feel it is too risky at this point, especially with the uncertainty of the months ahead. We want to make sure that Mardi Gras is safe financially so that it will be able to continue on once this pandemic has passed.
We do have some smaller events in the planning stages for the weekend of Mardi Gras and for Fat Tuesday. So please, stay tuned for that information and we hope you can attend! Our goal is to get together for these smaller events and still raise money for Mardi Gras and the non-profits we support.
No one is as disappointed as we are about the situation we are all forced into, but we hope to make the best of it. Thanks for the continued support and understanding.
- The Mardi Gras Committee.
