St James Parish’s annual Christmas Eve bonfires on the levee have been extinguished for 2020, due to a high positivity rate of COVID cases. Parish President Pete Dufresne said large outdoor events are only permitted if the positivity rate remains below 15-percent. As of Wednesday morning, the bonfires were a go with only an 8-percent positivity rate.
“It is unfortunate that shortly after this plan was approved the Louisiana Department of Health posted the weekly update and we had reached a positivity rate of 16.9% in St. James Parish,” said Dunfresne.
Dufresne said many have questioned the issuing of permits to construct bonfires if there was a possibility of canceling the event. He said the decision was made before Thanksgiving,
“Nothing indicated to me that our numbers would spike to 16.9 percent in such a short time. The hospital was telling me to expect even higher numbers next week,” said Dufresne.
The tradition of lighting bonfires to guide Papa Noel on Christmas Eve goes back to the late 1800s and the annual event in St. James Parish attracts thousands. Dufresne said they worked diligently on a plan for crowd control but rising case numbers worked against them.
“I understand many of you disagree with the way numbers are calculated and feel the government is manipulating the public, but I can assure you one thing, the number of occupied beds in our hospitals are not manipulated,” said Dufresne.
The parish will issue permit refunds and requests that the construction of bonfires be discontinued.
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