Unknown to the participants and local leaders at the time, the 2020 Carnival season (with parades running from January through Mardi Gras Day on February 25) coincided with increasing spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States as part of a global epidemic. At the time, the disease was actively being dismissed as a major public health threat by President Donald Trump and his administration. As such, federal officials did not advise against the holding of Mardi Gras festivities, scrutiny over large public gatherings had yet to emerge, while scrutiny over international travel primarily placed an emphasis on restricting travel from China—the country from which the disease originated. The first case of COVID-19 in Louisiana was reported on March 9, two weeks after the end of Mardi Gras.