Southern Decadence 2021: Anybody Going?

[BestCatcher]

Several of my buds and I have plane tix and hotel res for Southern Decadence. We bought tix for the Saturday night Fornication party too that’s now requiring proof of vaxxing. We already knew that sex in the bars has been greatly curtailed, yet also are aware how guys in crowds can innovate that. Now the COVID situation isn’t looking good at all in NOLA. One of my buds was there for the night last week and did reconnaissance at several bars. Some staff and bar regulars are expecting curtailed hours and perhaps even closures. We’re gonna wait til the very last few days of the month to decide whether to still go. Anybody else here going? Whaddya hearing?

[Poyzin]

I have a past  history of attending 5 Southern Decadence events.  Each the more perverted, deviant and meth infused than the one before.  It would not surprise me if the event is less boisterous due to the COVID pandemic.  As for the potential reduction of hours and or closing of local establishment’s and purveyors , it is in my most humble opinion that they will make every effort and due diligence to remain open and cash in on the guys that are attending as we have a much greater disposable income than other visitors.

[BiAggieGuy]

Friend of mine goes every year and invited me, but alas, that damn virus decided to show its ugly face again so will try for next year.

[Guest]

Can you please tell us what the event is and what goes on?

Heard of it, but never went.

[BestCatcher]

3 hours ago, Muscledadbod said:

Can you please tell us what the event is and what goes on?

Heard of it, but never went.

[think before following links] http://www.southerndecadence.net

[BootmanLA]

8 hours ago, Muscledadbod said:

Can you please tell us what the event is and what goes on?

Heard of it, but never went.

Southern Decadence was originally simply a big street party in the French Quarter, centered around the strips where the gay bars are located. It was designed to take advantage of a holiday weekend that was (traditionally) not particularly busy in New Orleans because late August/early September is still extremely hot and humid weather; tourist season in New Orleans was primarily late September to early May, so hotels were often mostly empty, prices were low, and the bars happy to welcome thousands of gay men as customers, boosting their bottom lines considerably. While there wasn't actual sex in the streets, like you might see in SF at Folsom or Dore Alley, or at Market Days in Chicago, some of the bars had very active back rooms and people would meet in the streets (the French Quarter allows open containers, so there was lots of drinking outside the bars), go back to a room to fuck, and hit the streets again.

The tenor of the event has changed in the last decade and a half or so. Unsurprisingly, the meth epidemic has taken its toll, and circuit promoter vultures seized on the opportunity to promote drug parties - sorry, I mean circuit dances - as part of Decadence, which attracted a completely different sort of crowd. No one would ever have described Decadence as "wholesome" but when I first started going, about three decades ago, no one would have imagined that they'd need to station paramedics with ambulances near the bars to handle the overdose demographic.

And of course, with the circuit parties comes the circuit aesthetic. One of the nice things about Decadence was that there was a place for everyone there - twinks, bears, musclemen, leather guys, and just average joes who were there to unwind and let their hair down in a way they couldn't back home. There's still plenty of that, but the dance floors at the clubs that have them quickly get overrun by tweakers who spend the entire time out of it, dancing in their own world (and, as noted, with some getting a ride in the van with the sirens and lights to the ER).

Don't get me wrong: I'm not suggesting anyone NOT go based on my description. But understand what it is, and what it's not. 

[Guest]

Thanks for that great description Bootman.

[tighthole64]

For anyone going, be advised 

[Bearhunter55]

I started going in 1998 and there was sex in the streets - lots of hand and blow jobs in the crowds on Bourbon between St Anne and Dumaine and once I saw a guy eating a woman's outspread legs as another guy rimmed him (first and last time I saw a woman having sex there and yes I took pictures!) Over the years some of that made the news and for political reasons (thank you Reverend Storm and others) and so outdoor activity and then indoor activity slowed down considerably.   It was always a great cross section - bears and dads, gym bunnies and drag queens all mingling and being quite friendly.  Hurricanes Katrina, Gustav and Issac all came within a few years of each other so  those were always something to think about when making plans to visit at that time of the year - and the heat/humidity are always brutal. 

[phukhole]

16 hours ago, BootmanLA said:

Southern Decadence was originally simply a big street party in the French Quarter, centered around the strips where the gay bars are located. It was designed to take advantage of a holiday weekend that was (traditionally) not particularly busy in New Orleans because late August/early September is still extremely hot and humid weather; tourist season in New Orleans was primarily late September to early May, so hotels were often mostly empty, prices were low, and the bars happy to welcome thousands of gay men as customers....

Exactly!  I go pretty regularly (love an excuse to get back home). It has definitely changed over the years - less sex on the street, more cover charges and circuit parties, bigger crowds (and all that comes with it), more of the stand and model crowd...  There are still a lot of reasons to go, so I continue to go when I can.  This year I'm skipping it (as I did last year).  Will I go back, definitely.  Is it the same as it was?  No (but I don't expect it to be). 

Wear a mask when required. Keep your wits about you (there is crime anywhere there are drunk tourists).  Venture out of the Quarter.  Be friendly (sometimes someone saying hi, is JUST that).  Eat. Drink. Let your hair down. No one cares what you do, but DON'T piss in the streets!

[TxBBTop]

Ill be there 😈

[BootmanLA]

This is not an official statement of anything, but... I've gotten word in the last hour-ish that essentially all the *official* Southern Decadence events have been canceled thanks to Covid. That doesn't mean the bars will be closed, but the parade, the big dick contest, and most other organized events are very possibly "off".

Again, there's no official statement out yet, but I'm not surprised if it's true.

[BootmanLA]

Updated information: the parade (which normally runs on Sunday afternoon of Decadence weekend is officially cancelled. The block party on Rampart (not sure if that means the one by the Phoenix (Rampart at Elysian Fields), or if there was another one in a stretch of Rampart along the French Quarter, but I suspect it's the former) has also been cancelled officially.

Several other events are also listing as "cancelled". That doesn't mean the streets will be empty and the bars deserted, but I suspect attendance will be down significantly.

[BestCatcher]

Read very recently that Louisiana has the highest new infection rates for COVID worldwide—actually higher than India and Iran. Then there’s ongoing news of breakthrough infections of vaxxed people, the fact that all official events for Southern Decadence have been cancelled for this year and growing numbers of restaurants and other NOLA establishments instituting restrictions, curtailed hours or even closures. This has led to the decision by my buds and I to cancel going this year. Instead, we’re gonna stay close to home and pod with some vaxxed fuckbuds for some fun next week and through the Labor Day weekend. The Delta variant has changed the pandemic measurably, guys. It isn’t the same that we were experiencing up until just a couple months ago. Be careful out there…