Hammond Daily: Mardi Gras Weekend & February City Updates
Hammond, LA — February 7, 2026 — Mardi Gras weekend brings parades, downtown brunches and fresh city events as Hammond eases into a busy start to February.
Hammond Daily Brief: February 7, 2026
Mardi Gras season is in full swing, and while hard news has been relatively quiet over the last day or two, Hammond is busy with parades, brunches and a growing list of February events.
Mardi Gras weekend lights up downtown
Hammond is leaning into the weekend with Friday night carnival energy. Regional parade schedules list the Krewe of Omega rolling in Hammond on Friday evening, bringing floats, throws and traffic slowdowns to the usual downtown route.
Event listings also flag a Go Play at Bar-b-Que Station gathering tied to the Omega parade, giving families and parade crews a spot to meet up ahead of the evening roll, along with a Lighthouse Mardi Party Brunch on West Thomas Street that helped kick off the weekend early Friday.
Brunches and watch parties around the parade
With those events on the calendar, downtown restaurants and bars around Thomas Street and the parade route can expect heavier foot traffic through the afternoon and evening, especially from families staking out spots early.
City calendar: recreation and meetings
The citys online calendar shows February events running all month at the Hammond Recreation Department on West Coleman Avenue, from youth sports to community programs. Council, airport and board meetings are also stacked across the month, giving residents several chances to sit in on city business at council chambers on East Charles Street and at the Northshore Regional Airport.
At City Hall, the finance team has posted a year to date budget report through December 31, 2025, along with the adopted 2025 to 2026 budget and the latest audit. Those documents offer a detailed look at how Hammond finished the last fiscal year and what is planned for the current one.
Looking ahead: Art of the Cocktail on Feb. 28
Looking toward the end of the month, the Hammond City Council has already cleared the way for the Art of the Cocktail fundraiser at the Hammond Regional Arts Center on February 28 from 5 to 9 p.m. The event will use both the gallery space on East Thomas Street and part of the Morrison Park alley, with a limited open container waiver approved for the evening.
For now, the focus is on this first big Mardi Gras weekend, as floats, food and visitors converge on downtown Hammond and set the tone for the rest of February.
