NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Before the Joan of Arc parade welcomes Mardi Gras 2024 to the French Quarter this Saturday, it had to welcome a few special French guests to Gallier Hall.
“That’s what this is all about,” said New Orleans Mayor Latoya Cantrell. “It’s connecting ourselves and understanding that we are tightly woven together.”
Each year, much like the Krewe of the Joan of Arc parade selects its Maid of Honor, a catholic high school student with a passion for volunteering is selected to emulate the war hero in France’s festivities.
“Who is known throughout the world, not only as a symbol for not only courage and freedom,” Cantrell said. “This speaks to me. But also for self-sacrifice and resistance to invasion.”
New Orleans and Orleans, France, entered a Sister City agreement in 2018.
That agreement was signed on Joan of Arc’s 606th birthday during the tricentennial of New Orleans.
In a partnership between New Orleans and France’s rotary clubs, a scholarship exchange program sends the two Joans to the opposite sister city to learn more about their cultural ties.
New Orleans leaders did their best to make French citizen Clairvie Quesne feel at home.
In the summer, Krewe’s 2024 Maid of Honor, Marley Marsalis, will head to France.
Marsalis follows the footsteps of her father, Jason, and late grandfather, Ellis, as a musician.
New Orleans City Councilman Eugene Green says she’s a Crescent City girl through and through.
“She only wanted to go to school right here in New Orleans. She’s been accepted into school here,” said Green. “It’s a great story for our city.”
Carnival time brings about all kinds of stories and memories.
Tourism expert Mark Romig remembers escorting his sister in the Joan of Arc parade years ago.
“That night, it was 19 degrees in New Orelans. Yes, it was very cold, and it felt even colder as the wind was whipping down Chartres Street,” Romig said. “But I hear that this weekend’s weather is going to be so much better.”
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FULL 2024 MARDI GRAS PARADE SCHEDULE
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