City Council updates Mardi Gras rules

Mardi Gras in New Orleans might look like colorful chaos, but there are indeed laws governing the revelry, and City Council has updated a handful for future seasons.

Why it matters: Nobody wants to get arrested during Mardi Gras. And nobody wants to be the person who causes a power outage because of an errant confetti cannon.

• (We're lookin' at you, Cleopatra.)

Driving the news: City Council approved the changes Thursday, codifying a handful of edits the casual observer — even the sober ones — likely won't notice. Others make the way for possibly bigger changes down the road, according to NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune.

Among the more noticeable changes is a new rule mandating krewe members only throw "plain or unadorned" beads, or those featuring identifying characteristics, logos or words specific to the krewe.

• The Mayor's Mardi Gras Advisory Council has also been granted the responsibility to share recommendations from a new task force to decide which krewes will and won't parade year to year. It's not yet clear how those choices will be made or impact the schedule.

Tucks, rejoice: The toilet paper stays, for now.

• A ban of "paper ribbons longer than 3 feet'' is on hold as Councilman JP Morrell attempts to broker toilet paper peace between the Department of Sanitation and paper-tossing krewes.

Zoom in: Among the Carnival minutiae City Council approved was a cap of 34 float parades for the season and no more than three official stops so things keep rolling.

• City Council also upped the nighttime parade limit to three, instead of two, allowing a shift of the Legion of Mars to roll after the Krewe of Pontchartrain.
• After a mylar confetti cannon hit power lines and prompted an outage in the Lower Garden District during the last Carnival, City Council said only paper confetti cannons will be welcome on the route in the future.
• City Council also cleared the path for additional walking krewes to parade Uptown on Mardi Gras Day.