Zatarain's starts its own petition to make Mardi Gras a national ...

First of all, if it goes national then people will not come to NOLa for it and, while natives may not appreciate the extra people at the parade routes, they money generated is important to the city and the region.

The only thing they should do is have all of our local businesses shut down for the day ..People don't need to shop they can go to parades or stay home and BBQ.I hate having to work on MARDI GRAS everything should be closed thats the holiday we as citizens of the New Orleans area need to keep to our selves...We are the only ones that know how to through a big party and no one gets hurt our police department is the only one in the USA that can keep crowd control balanced

Mardi Gras is Unique to NOLA and NOLA only, I work in the quarter and we look forward to all the mardi gras money...some depend on it...If Mardi Gras were everywhere...people would just go to the closest parade to their hometown.

But this celebration belongs to new orleans and nearby areas, at the most ,along with the Brazils, the Trinidads, the Italys, and Frances of the world....



Source: http://blog.nola.com/cest-la-nola/2009/02/zatarains_spearheading_petitio.html