One of the world's biggest Mardi Gras celebrations gets into full swing in the city of New Orleans this weekend ahead of the main event on Tuesday. NEIL NORMAN joins in the pulsating festivities

In the final part of our series on guided tours, JAMES ELLIS looks at the best new trips on offer outside Europe

FOR the hottest party in New Orleans, hit the street where the music is always pumping and the booties always shaking says ALASTAIR BANGHAM

NEW Orleans was Walt Disney's favourite city. Its splendid cocktail of jazz, creole, Mardi Gras and voodoo captured the heart of America's most famous movie mogul.

NEW Orleans, the sultry, free-spirited jewel in the crown of the American South, offers a rich multicultural heritage which simmers in its music, cuisine and nightlife.

Enjoy Mardi Gras in New Orleans, New England's chic summer resorts and the North Carolina Fall, says KATHY ARNOLD

AMERICA'S Deep South has an unrivalled popular music heritage, says ANDY BARKER, who heads from New Orleans to Nashville on the trail of Satchmo, Elvis and Dolly.