New Mardi Gras admits mistake and elects new board

New Mardi Gras (NMG) has conceded that the reason for splitting the Parade and Party to separate weekends was due to a scheduling error with commercial partners and sponsors. The admission was made during the organisation's annual general meeting on Wednesday, held at Kensington, where a new board was elected.

Under intense questioning by members, the board said the split behind the two events was because of conflicting arrangements.

All members of the board were re-elected at the meeting, along with two new candidates: Lynne O'Brien and Michael Douglas. The election brings to eight the total number of board members. The re-elected board members include Joshua Keech, Tony Knight, Kirk Muddle, Rob Partos, Nicholas Parker and Steph Sands.

The 2010 Mardi Gras has a new format for 2010, lasting two weeks and punctuated by major events on three successive weekends – Launch at Fair Day, Parade and Party.

The key dates for the Mardi Gras Season are:
Launch/Fair Day - 21st February
Parade and post-Parade Event - 27th February
Harbour '10- 10 - 28th February
Party - 6th March