Mardi Gras Ends: Last Revelers Sent Home, Trash Swept Up

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Mardi Gras 2015 is officially over.

At the stroke of midnight, New Orleans police on horseback cleared out the French Quarter's last tipsy revelers, closing out "Carnival" season.

After the last Mardi Gras parade, city crews were sweeping up mounds of trash and plastic beads strewn across New Orleans. City officials said between 50 to 150 tons of trash would be collected by early Wednesday — as if the parades never happened.

Forecasters said temperatures would warm for those shedding the excesses of Mardi Gras just as the more austere Catholic season of Lent opens. Overcast skies and temperatures in the mid-30s marked "Fat Tuesday" but forecasters predicted the sun would greet those participating in Ash Wednesday religious services.