There will be no parades in St. Tammany Parish next year, Parish President Mike Cooper announced Thursday.
The decision to cancel parades in 2021 came after talks with Parish Coroner Dr. Charles Preston, St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Randy Smith, local fire districts, local police departments and a consensus of local mayors.
“We have taken into consideration the health, safety and welfare of our citizens and the fact that we remain in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic with numbers continuing to rise,” Cooper said. “We want to discourage any event that will draw large crowds and possibly endanger the health of our citizens or possibly put our first responders at risk. I want to thank every leader within our Parish who participated in this conversation. I will continue to do what is right to balance the health of our community with the health of our economy.”