City Park cancels “Celebration in the Oaks” in favor of “Celebration at the Barricades”

Celebration in the OaksDon Kiebels

City Park has canceled its famous annual ‘Celebration in the Oaks’ for the 2015 holiday season, instead opting for a new event in a new location.

In light of all the road construction and repairs taking place in New Orleans this year, City Park will launch “Celebration at the Barricades”, a bounty of lights and decorations adorning the unending construction barricades beautifully choking most of the city’s main thoroughfares.

“If you think it’s hard enough to get around town now, just wait until the holidays are in full swing,” said Mary Pickford, City Park’s ‘Celebration’ coordinator. “So, we figured if people can’t get to ‘Celebration’ in City Park, we’ll bring it to them.”

Pickford said New Orleanians stuck in traffic on Napoleon Avenue, Canal Street, Loyola Avenue, Rampart, and many other streets across the city will enjoy a festive light show along the barricades, complete with Santa’s workshops, dragons, and snowmen, plus characters from nursery rhymes and Disney movies.

“This year, we’re going full-out Trump mode. Al Copeland would be jealous. And since you can’t go more than 5 miles per hour on those streets anyway, you will get the chance to really enjoy it. We’re even planning a large ‘Bob the Builder’ display that will stop traffic every couple of minutes to let Santa’s sleigh, suspended from a Manitowoc crane covered with lights, fly across the street. The kids will love it, at least the first 10 times.”

Pickford says ‘Celebration at the Barricades’ will officially start this year on December 18th, and run until the last displays are stolen.