Nola Reporter

Mayor Cantrell to Honor Carnival Historian Arhtur Hardy and International Visitors to Conclude 2024 Carnival Season.

NEW ORLEANS — Today, Mayor LaToya Cantrell and City officials will continue the 2024 theme to "Show Love, Share Love, and Stronger Together" by participating in the traditional Lundi Gras Celebration and Ceremony at Spanish Plaza to salute King Zulu Melvin Labat, Queen Zulu A. Angélique Roché and the King of Carnival, Rex John Menge Eastman and Queen Elizabeth Brent Montgomery.

The City is also preparing to celebrate the Krewes of Proteus and Orpheus tonight at Gallier Hall, which are set to begin rolling at 5:15 p.m.

Tomorrow, Feb. 13, the City of New Orleans will conclude the 2024 Carnival season by celebrating Mardi Gras Day, commonly known as Fat Tuesday, at the historic Galler Hall. Mayor LaToya Cantrell will be joined by elected officials, community leaders, City employees and their families and an array of special guests.

In the spirit of Mardi Gras, Mayor Cantrell will honor and pay tribute to Carnival Historian and Mardi Gras expert Arthur Hardy by presenting him with the most prestigious honor, a Key to the City of New Orleans. Hardy is a fifth-generation New Orleanian and owner of the Mardi Gras Guide magazine. He is a member of the Mayor’s Mardi Gras Advisory Council and is known as the world’s foremost authority on Mardi Gras.

Mayor Cantrell will also pay tribute to international visitors Bon Koizumi and his wife Shoko Koizumi. Bon Koizumi is the great-grandson of Lafcadio Hearn, who is known in Japan as Yakina Koizumi and who is being honored by the Rex Organization this year. Hailing from Matsue, Japan, Bon Koizumi is a son of a New Orleans Sister City. This year, New Orleans and Matsue will celebrate 30 years of Sister City partnership on March 26.

The 2024 Rex Procession, entitled “The Two Worlds of Lafcadio Hearn – New Orleans and Japan,” celebrates the writing of Lafcadio Hearn, who so richly and colorfully described New Orleans and Japan, having lived in both places. Bon and Shoko Koizumi will be granted honorary citizenship by the City of New Orleans.

The City also welcomes Edmonds Entertainment and BET Original Series College Hill Celebrity Edition to New Orleans. College Hill is produced by Edmonds Entertainment, founded by award-winning executive producer Tracey Edmonds, Sean Rankine and Mark Seliga for This Way Out Media and Tiffany Lea Williams for BET+. “College Hill: Celebrity Edition” is a reimagining of the “College Hill” series that initially ran in the early 2000s following the lives of students at different Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Original source can be found here.