The splitting of Mardi Gras Parade and Party has less to do with tired marchers, and more to do with pressure from commercial partners and an administrative oversight, according to former Mardi Gras President Richard Cobden.

Scroll down for the update.

“The change was driven by an agreement with Atlantis Cruises, which obliged New Mardi Gras to move the Parade to the last Saturday in February, while the standing booking for the RHI/Hordern is the first Saturday in March,” Cobden told Same Same.

“Apparently an attempt was made by New Mardi Gras to move the Party date to the Parade date but Playbill, who control the Showground/Fox venues, rejected it on the basis that the venue was already booked for a Gift Fair. In other words, the separated dates were the result of a combination of an undisclosed commercial obligation and a plain and simple oversight. Any suggestion that it is by design is an attempt to cover it up.”

The changes have caused great debate – some have embraced the change, others have cited the impact it will have on many interstate and overseas tourists who will not be able to attend both Parade and Party.

“The Parade and Party are two inseparable events. It’s like having a wedding one week and the reception the next week!” says Cobden.

Cobden would not reveal his source, but said that the person is ‘highly placed’, the information is credible, and that he heard it six weeks ago.

When the changes were first announced New Mardi Gras issued a statement outlining that the decision to split Parade and Party was based on “research through focus groups and surveys” which suggested they experiment with the format, an awareness of “large numbers of Parade participants [who] don’t make it to the Party [because they] are simply too tired” and to create “a longer buzz”.

In addition to the Party on March 6, Mardi Gras also have plans to hold a post-Parade event as well, which seems to have further confused the issue.

When Same Same asked David Imrie, Chair of New Mardi Gras whether the claims were true, we were told that Mardi Gras is not in a position to share details of conversations with its commercial partners, nor could it speak on their behalf.

Imrie denied that there was any scheduling mistake. “The planning was deliberate and strategic. There was no oversight, no error.”

We were also referred back to the original press release and told that ‘many have celebrated the new format, some have not’.

“Some have also theorised as to the ‘real reasons’ we have redesigned the Festival,” said Imrie. “These ‘real reasons’ are quite simple – the desire to evolve and change, to create energy and vibrancy, and to ensure the prosperity of Mardi Gras in the future.”

Update:

In an interview with Sydney Star Observer last week Imrie could not account for why passengers booked on the Atlantis cruise were not told of the split events, given that the two organisations have been working so closely together in preparation for the 2010 season.

“Atlantis have been aware of our programming and the dates we booked the venue for the party. So I’m not sure how that’s occurred,” said Imrie.

However Richard Campbell, CEO of Atlantis Cruises, told Same Same that when planning for the cruise began back in 2007, Mardi Gras management confirmed that both parade and party would take place on February 27, 2010. Campbell also confirmed that Atlantis Cruises were only notified of the split less than two weeks ago, on Thursday May 21. Campbell said that he was told confidentially of the change only a few days in advance of this announcement.

“Rich was told 27 Feb for Party back in 2007 well prior to the gift fair booking the venue and when it was available to NMG,” said Imrie.

However, according to a spokesperson from Life In Style, the company who runs the gift fair in question, that date was never available to Mardi Gras. “We have a multi-year booking with Playbill. We signed that agreement back in 2006. We book the venues years in advance, because our gift fairs in Sydney are always on the same weekend every year – our dates never change.”

Michael Kent, Playbill’s General Manager, could not elaborate on individual bookings due to confidentiality issues, but he could confirm that Mardi Gras signed their three year venue booking deal back in 2008, and that when they did so “they were very organised in terms of their dates.” So if the split was strategic, as Imrie says, and not a kneejerk response to an administrative oversight, why was Atlantis only advised of the change in May?

“The split is a radical idea,” Kent added, “but I know that there has been a lot of feeling that the previous concept was a bit stale. I think they should be applauded for trying to come up with something new. I’m not sure how it’s going to work, I don’t think they’ve worked out every single aspect. The reason it got changed are Mardi Gras’ reasons, there are a hell of a lot of factors involved. People are used to the same format, and now that the format has been changed I can see that a lot of people will wonder what it’s going to be like. Only time will tell.”

Mardi Gras still maintain that there was no error, no scheduling mistake. Last week we asked Imrie if there had been a human error, hypothetically speaking, would Mardi Gras ever admit it.

“We don’t deal in hypotheticals, only in facts.” Imrie added, “You are trying very hard to make a story out of something that simply doesn’t exist. It’s getting boring.”

Imrie said that Mardi Gras would no longer comment on the matter, and that the issue was a “non-story”.