New Orleans goes into party mode early after NFL win

Party season has come early to New Orleans which is celebrating a historic victory in the US Super Bowl less than a week before Mardi Gras.

People hugged and kissed in the city's famous French Quarter as they marked the Saints' win over the Indianapolis Colts, against all the odds.

Pundits had said the home team would never win the National Football League championship until "hell froze over".

A placard saying "Hell is Frozen" could be seen in one fan's hands.

Fireworks were set off as revellers whooped and danced to spontaneous brass bands.

It was an emotional victory for the Saints, who had the backing of many Americans outside Louisiana.

New Orleans has been struggling to rebuild itself after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 which killed almost 2,000 people.

The Saints' stadium was used as a refuge for thousands of people left homeless by the storm.

Dramatic finish

Victory in the the biggest annual event in American football, held in Miami, was not sealed until minutes before full time with a 74-yard (-metre) sprint for a touch-down score.

Players at the stadium in Miami celebrated in a blizzard of confetti

The Saints had come from behind at half-time to beat the Colts, 31-17, clinching their first-ever Super Bowl.

The annual game is the most watched sports event in the US, with 30-second TV adverts during the match costing more than $2m (£1.3m).

Marita Jager, manageress of Johnny White's bar in Bourbon Street, which famously stayed open during Katrina, said the team's victory was well-deserved.

"We knew we could do it and we want to make sure everybody realises this is not a Cinderella story, this is no fly-by-night," she told BBC World Service.

"We were the champions of our division and we played the champions of their division and we won and we are capable of this and we deserve this win. It means a lot to the team, it means a lot to the city and it's just an amazing feeling."

So big was the event on Sunday night that even the strippers on Bourbon Street stopped dancing and joined thousands of revellers cheering on the Saints in front of TV screens in bars, an AFP correspondent in the city said.

"We have no music, no stages," said Sam Stonebraker, 34, a host at Rick's Cabaret.

"It's the first time I've seen a club shut down and I've been doing this for five years. The game is pretty much a once-in-a-lifetime event in this city."

New Orleans has been running carnival events since last month but the main celebrations will come on Mardi Gras itself, next Tuesday - the last day before the Christian season of Lent.

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