CONVENT, LA (BRPROUD) –The traditional lighting of the bonfires has been canceled amid the uprising on COVID-19 cases. The city released the information in a press release this afternoon. Get the full details below.

After long consideration and consultation with state and local agencies, the Unified Command Group in St. James Parish has made the difficult decision to cancel the lighting of the bonfires on Christmas Eve.

Over the last several weeks the Unified Command Group has met to determine all possible alternatives for safely continuing with this tradition, however, the latest announcement earlier today of a 16.9% positivity rate in St. James Parish has required the cancellation of this event.

Tomorrow, December 10th at 12 pm, Parish President, Pete Dufresne will host a Facebook Live discussion to address in more detail how this decision was made as well as permit refunds and deconstructing of previously built bonfires. If you have not yet built your bonfire, we ask that you do not continue with construction.

This was by no means an easy decision to make as this tradition is long standing and special to our community in particular. We understand this has been an extremely difficult year for many of us and we have hoped for a sense of normalcy in the Christmas season especially, however we must first and foremost protect the heath, safety and wellbeing of our residents.

Courtesy of St. James Parish Government