Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras is the last day for Catholics to indulge before Ash Wednesday starts the sober weeks of fasting that accompany Lent.

Why is it important?

Mardi Gras is a Christian holiday and popular cultural phenomenon that dates back thousands of years to pagan spring and fertility rites. Also known as Carnival or Carnaval, it's celebrated in many countries around the world—mainly those with large Roman Catholic populations—on the day before the religious season of Lent begins.

Brazil, Venice and New Orleans play host to some of the holiday's most famous public festivities, drawing thousands of tourists and revelers every year. The term "Mardi Gras" is particularly associated with the carnival celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Origins and History

Medieval Europe

The origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to medieval Europe, passing through Rome and Venice in the 17th and 18th centuries to the French House of the Bourbons. From here, the traditional revelry of "Boeuf Gras," or fatted calf, followed France to her colonies.

Pointe du Mardi Gras

On March 2, 1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville arrived at a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans, and named it "Pointe du Mardi Gras" when his men realized it was the eve of the festive holiday. Bienville also established "Fort Louis de la Louisiane" (which is now Mobile) in 1702. In 1703, the tiny settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrated America's very first Mardi Gras.

New Orleans

New Orleans was established in 1718 by Bienville. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans, but not with the parades we know today. In the early 1740s, Louisiana's governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, established elegant society balls, which became the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today.

The Carnival

The earliest reference to Mardi Gras "Carnival" appears in a 1781 report to the Spanish colonial governing body. That year, the Perseverance Benevolent & Mutual Aid Association was the first of hundreds of clubs and carnival organizations formed in New Orleans. By the late 1830s, New Orleans held street processions of maskers with carriages and horseback riders to celebrate Mardi Gras. Dazzling gaslight torches, or "flambeaux," lit the way and lent each event an exciting air of romance and festivity.

source: MardiGrasNewOrleans.com

Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, and gras means "fat." In France, the day before Ash Wednesday came to be known as Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday."

Traditionally, in the days leading up to Lent, merrymakers would binge on all the rich, fatty foods—meat, eggs, milk, lard and cheese—that remained in their homes, in anticipation of several weeks of eating only fish and different types of fasting.

The word carnival, another common name for the pre-Lenten festivities, also derives from this feasting tradition.

In Medieval Latin, carnelevarium means to take away or remove meat, from the Latin carnem for meat.

A Pagan Tradition

Mardi Gras is a tradition that dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, including the raucous Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia.

When Christianity arrived in Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate these popular local traditions into the new faith, an easier task than abolishing them altogether. As a result, the excess and debauchery of the Mardi Gras season became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of fasting and penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

Along with Christianity, Mardi Gras spread from Rome to other European countries, including France, Germany, Spain and England.

New Orleans Krewes

On Mardi Gras in 1827, a group of students donned colorful costumes and danced through the streets of New Orleans, emulating the revelry they'd observed while visiting Paris. Ten years later, the first recorded New Orleans Mardi Gras parade took place, a tradition that continues to this day.

In 1857, a secret society of New Orleans businessmen called the Mistick Krewe of Comus organized a torch-lit Mardi Gras procession with marching bands and rolling floats, setting the tone for future public celebrations in the city.

Since then, krewes have remained a fixture of the Carnival scene throughout Louisiana. Other lasting customs include throwing beads and other trinkets, wearing masks, decorating floats and eating King Cake.

Louisiana is the only state in which Mardi Gras is a legal holiday. However, elaborate carnival festivities draw crowds in other parts of the United States during the Mardi Gras season. Each region has its own events and traditions.

Did you know?

Rex, one of the oldest Mardi Gras krewes, has been participating in parades since 1872, and established purple, gold and green as the iconic Mardi Gras colors.

Mardi Gras around the World

Across the globe, pre-Lenten festivals continue to take place in many countries with significant Roman Catholic populations.

Brazil

Brazil's weeklong Carnival festivities feature a vibrant amalgam of European, African and native traditions.

Italy

In Italy, tourists flock to Venice's Carnevale, which dates back to the 13th century and is famous for its masquerade balls. Carnevale is a parallel to Halloween for children in Italy, where they dress up and gather candy.

Canada

In Canada, Quebec City hosts the giant Quebec Winter Carnival.

Germany

Known as Karneval, Fastnacht or Fasching, the German celebration includes parades, costume balls and a tradition that empowers women to cut off men's ties

Denmark

For Denmark's Fastevlan, children dress up and gather candy in a similar manner to Halloween—although the parallel ends when they ritually flog their parents on Easter Sunday morning.

Twelfth Night and Mardi Gras

Twelfth Night (aka, Twelfth Night, the Feast of the Epiphany and Three Kings' Day) is celebrated on January 6th in New Orleans and is the official start of Mardi Gras every year. While the date of Fat Tuesday changes, Twelfth Night does not.

In Louisiana, Epiphany is the beginning of the Carnival season, during which it is customary to bake King Cakes: a round pastry filled with cinnamon, glazed white, and coated in traditional carnival color sanding sugar. The person who finds the doll (or bean) must provide the next king cake.

The interval between Epiphany and Mardi Gras is sometimes known as "king cake season", and many may be consumed during this period. The Carnival season begins on King's Day (Epiphany), and there are many traditions associated with that day in Louisiana and along the Catholic coasts of Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Three Kings Cake

Modern American Carnival traditions are seen in New Orleans. In the mid-twentieth century, friends gathered for weekly king cake parties. Whoever got the slice with the "king", usually in the form of a miniature baby doll (symbolic of the Christ Child, "Christ the King"), hosted the next week's party. Traditionally, this was a bean for the king and a pea for the queen.

Are Carnival and Mardi Gras the same thing?

Technically, "Carnival" refers to the period of feasting and fun that begins on January 6 (Twelfth Night) and ends on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), the final day of revelry before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins. It is also common for people to refer to the entire season as Mardi Gras and, for clarity, to call Fat Tuesday "Mardi Gras Day." Locals tend to call the season "Carnival" and, to us, the last two weekends leading up to Tuesday are"Mardi Gras."

Carnival

Period of feasting and fun that begins on January 6 (Twelfth Night) and ends on Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday).

Mardi Gras

Final day of revelry before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.