NEW ORLEANS showed that it could still put on a party yesterday, even against the backdrop of a broken city, although only a fraction of the invited guests turned up.

Such was the turnout for the first weekend of the Mardi Gras celebrations that every spectator had a front-row spot at the carnival, which usually attracts a crowd eight deep. If the queues at the hot-dog stalls stretched beyond three customers, they were deemed to be long. But in a city in which cheerful smiles and the sight of children playing on the street have been rare in the six months since the floods caused by hurricanes Ka trina and Rita, the occasion was proof of the city’s party spirit.

Vivacious floats rolled past just yards away from communities wiped out by the catastrophe last year, in front of boarded-up shops and past signs advertising house-clearing services and demolition contractors.

Interspersed with school marching bands, some of which had to group together to bump up their numbers, they passed below a hoarding that reminded onlookers: “Remember those suffering from Katrina and Rita.” Another urged: “Let’s get this party started!” Even the coroner, Dr Frank Minyard, who has had the grim task of investigating many of the disaster’s victims, had his own float. Kelvin Banks, a resident of the Big Easy, who watched the parade on St Charles Avenue with his three-year-old nephew, Camron, said: “This city needed a tonic after the tragedy.” Isaac Kaufman, whose house in the Lower Ninth ward was destroyed, used to be a bricklayer. He now lives 50 miles away, but he was back in town yesterday to earn some extra money selling candyfloss. He said: “Our homes are gone, but we still have Mardi Gras. Katrina couldn’t take that from us.”

The celebrations yesterday began with a street parade by the Mystic Krewe of Barkus — the only carnival club whose members are all four-legged. The theme was “The Wizard of Pawz: there’s no place like home”.

For the carnival queen, a miniature dachsund-cross called Patches, the event marked the culmination of a rags-to- royalty journey that began when she was found half-drowned in the flood last September. She was plucked weak and shivering from the water by a rescuers, nursed back to health and adopted after no one claimed her.

Katherine Olivier, a carnival organiser, said: “We don’t know whether her first owner is dead or alive. But her survival is a miracle and she’s a little blue-eyed beauty. She’s an ambassador for the thousands of rescued Katrina animals out there who still need adopting.”

Wearing a cape and a tiara, Patches struck a regal pose alongside the carnival king, Amigo, who flew in from the Bahamas with his own entourage, including a publicist and personal trainer. Amigo, who was invited because of his work as a “spokes-dog” for animal charities, was introduced to his queen over a grilled lamb chop at one of the city’s finest restaurants, Galatoire’s, where, according to Ms Olivier, “the queen nibbled in a ladylike manner — and the king didn’t.”

FESTIVE DAYS

In normal years more than a million people attend Mardi Gras, which raises as much as $1 billion for the city

Times Recommends

• It’s only Brits who don’t appreciate me, says Blair
• Party’s over for Greek graspers
• White House tightens security for Xmas marathon