Krewes have agreed to relax a prohibition on corporate sponsorship of Mardi Gras, but say they will not allow corporate logos on floats.
Wednesday's recommendation came after warnings by krewes that 10 parades might be canceled or moved. Muniz, the Endymion captain, said on Monday that plans to trim Mardi Gras were sending a message to tourists "not to come." He threatened to move his parade to adjacent Jefferson Parish.
"I want to be in New Orleans, but if I've got to cut my parade in half, I'm not going to parade in New Orleans," said Muniz, whose krewe has 2,300 members.
On Wednesday, Muniz said he felt assured that overtime money would be raised to accommodate his parade in full.
The Krewe of Zulu, established in 1909 and representing a cross section of African-American society, will decide on Dec. 4 whether to participate in the coming Mardi Gras.
Many of the krewe's 500-plus members lived in the heavily damaged New Orleans East section and remain out of town and out of contact, said Andrew Pete Sanchez, the club's chairman of Carnival activities.
"The feeling is mixed," Sanchez said. "Those who have returned home support participation. Those in opposition want to be able to come home first."
Decorated coconuts thrown by Zulu's members are among the most distinctive and sought-after Mardi Gras trinkets.
"There's no Mardi Gras without Zulu," said Arthur Hardy, a Carnival historian and publisher of a definitive Mardi Gras guide. "They're just too much part of the celebration."
If African-American participation is severely curtailed, Mardi Gras may run the risk of further delineating the class and racial divide exposed after the hurricane.
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