Mardi Gras
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.
When is Mardi Gras? Mardi Gras is traditionally celebrated on
“Fat Tuesday,” the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. In many areas, however, Mardi Gras has
evolved into a week-long festival. Mardi
Gras 2022 will fall on Tuesday, March 1. Following two years of cancelled
events due to the COVID-19 pandemic, celebrations in New Orleans are scheduled
to proceed in 2022.
What Is Mardi Gras? 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.
What Does Mardi Gras Mean? 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.
New Orleans Mardi Gras The
first American Mardi Gras took place on March 3, 1699, when French explorers
Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville landed near present-day New
Orleans, Louisiana. They held a small celebration and dubbed their landing spot
Point du Mardi Gras.. In the decades that followed, New Orleans and
other French settlements began marking the holiday with street parties, masked
balls and lavish dinners. When the Spanish took control of New Orleans,
however, they abolished these rowdy rituals, and the bans remained in force
until Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812. 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.
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.
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 as
well, including Alabama and Mississippi. Each region has its own events and
traditions.
Mardi Gras Around the World Across
the globe, pre-Lenten festivals continue to take place in many countries with
significant Roman Catholic populations. Brazil’s weeklong Carnival
festivities feature a vibrant amalgam of European, African and native
traditions. In Canada, Quebec City hosts the giant Quebec Winter Carnival. In
Italy, tourists flock to Venice’s Carnevale, which dates back to the 13th
century and is famous for its masquerade balls. 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. 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.
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