No obscene rap lyrics, no bare breasts, St. Martinville insists

Both float-riders and parade-watchers are on a short lease for this year’s New Comers’ Mardi Gras Parade, Sunday, Feb. 15.
Rules against floats playing rap music with obscene lyrics and female riders exposing their breasts will be strictly enforced, the City Council announced last week.
Authorities will also be watching the spectators closely.
The major offenders, said Mayor Thomas Nelson, are the barbecue pits fired up, seemingly, on every street corner, and the parties that spring up around them. Some don’t leave a trace, Nelson said, but others scatter beer cans and dump their coals on private lots. Last year, he said, hot coals were dumped against a wooden building and left smoldering. It was just fortunate the building didn’t catch on fire, he said.
Depending upon how the parade goes this year, a whole new set of rules is in the offing for 2016, Nelson said.
“This is just a trial,” said Councilman Craig Prosper. “If it doesn’t work, the only other solution is to stop it.”
“We’re not trying to get rid of the parade,” Nelson said. “We’re trying to save it.”
This year the parade is limited to 75 units – and there will be pressure on the units to keep the gaps between them closed, Nelson said.
“There is no reason that parade should last four hours,” he said.
Police Chief Calder Hebert said he has been meeting with representatives of the sponsoring organization to craft a list of rules for participants. Violators will be removed from the parade.
The aim is to make the annual Mardi Gras Parade more family-friendly and less like a New Orleans bacchanal.