There will be no No Limit Riders Mamou Mardi Gras Trailride & Chicken Run in the town of Mamou this year, the organizer has announced.
"We want to share that there will be no Mardi Gras events hosted this year, including Monday night and Fat Tuesday festivities. This decision was not made lightly," Derrell Thomas wrote in a post on Facebook.
Last year, two people died and 11 were injured in a shooting during an outdoor concert that followed the trail ride, which happened on Tuesday in the Evangeline Parish town.
There are two main Mardi Gras celebrations in the Evangeline Parish town: a traditional courir de Mardi Gras and Thomas' No Limit Riders Mamou Mardi Gras Trailride & Chicken Run.
"As the event has grown bigger each year, we've reached a point where it's important to pause for this season in order to reset, restructure and establish clearer expectations for the future," he wrote. "A key part of this reset includes prioritizing safety, ensuring appropriate planning and hiring the proper amount of law enforcement and security personnel to adequately support an event of this size. Hosting events of this scale requires significant time, coordination and financial investment, and this break will allow us to come back stronger, safer and more organized."
Thomas goes on to say this cancellation is for 2026 only, and promises a return in 2027 that will be "bigger, better and like we never left."
