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Mardi Gras ends: Last revelers sent home, trash swept up

Revelers dance to a brass band in the French Quarter on Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. Revelers in glitzy costumes filled the streets of New Orleans for the annual fat Tuesday bash, opening a day of partying, parades and good-natured jostling for beads and trinkets tossed from passing floats. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Revelers dance to a brass band in the French Quarter on Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. Revelers in glitzy costumes filled the streets of New Orleans for the annual fat Tuesday bash, opening a day of partying, parades and good-natured jostling for beads and trinkets tossed from passing floats. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

By Associated Press 1 min read

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Mardi Gras 2015 is officially over.

At the stroke of midnight, New Orleans police on horseback cleared out the French Quarter’s last tipsy revelers, closing out “Carnival” season.

After the last Mardi Gras parade, city crews were sweeping up mounds of trash and plastic beads strewn across New Orleans. City officials said between 50 to 150 tons of trash would be collected by early Wednesday – as if the parades never happened.

Forecasters said temperatures would warm for those shedding the excesses of Mardi Gras just as the more austere Catholic season of Lent opens. Overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-30s marked “Fat Tuesday” but forecasters predicted the sun would greet those participating in Ash Wednesday religious services.

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