Nyx has been nixed from the 2025 float parade lineup after New Orleans City Council members voted to pull the krewe's permit, deciding the group violated official Mardi Gras rules.
While Mayor LaToya Cantrell still has to sign off on the decision, many are already wondering what happens to the now-open spot in the parade schedule
Will there be a new parade added? Will some groups get moved? And what happens to Nyx, a krewe clouded by controversy since 2020?
Here's what you need to know.
Adding a new permit
Thirty-four float parades are allowed to roll in the 12 days leading up to Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, according to the city's Mardi Gras code that was updated in 2023.
An open spot will be available with Krewe of Nyx eliminated from the mix.
The last time a new parade was added to the lineup was last year, when city officials approved a permit for Legion of Mars, a krewe founded in 2013 to honor people who have served in the military and civilian first responders. Mars now rolls on the first Saturday of Carnival.
Still, many new krewes have complained about the city's current permitting process, which grandfathers in parades on the permit list year after year. The code's rules state that permits are "for the same position, route, date and time as the parade permit issued to the carnival organization in the previous year."
The now-empty slot could make way for new krewes who have not been historically issued a permit to apply, but it's not yet clear how the process would work.
Canceling Wednesday altogether?
New Orleans officials could also choose not to permit a new float parade, and there's been talk of eliminating the Wednesday parade schedule altogether.
During the Carnival Legislative Advisory Committee meeting earlier this week, City Councilman JP Morrell suggested that if Nyx were eliminated, that day might be scratched from the parade calendar to take some pressure off overstretched city services.
The Krewe of Druids, which has rolled the week before Mardi Gras since 1999, remains on the parade schedule for Wednesday.
It's unclear where Druids would move in the schedule if the City Council made a change in the future.
Will the Mystic Krewe of Nyx cease to exist?
It depends.
With a limited number of parade permits, newer krewes have since started to "piggyback" with older krewes already in possession of a permit. For example, the Mystical Order of the Phoenix now rides with the Knights of Sparta.
This could be an option for Nyx if another group lets them join.
One krewe member told Axios that Nyx still plans to be a krewe no matter what.
Another possibility: applying to roll in a neighboring community, such as Metairie.
