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The first year that Mardi Gras was celebrated on a grand scale in Galveston was 1871 with the emergence of two rival Mardi Gras societies, or "Krewes" called the Knights of Momus (known only by the initials "K.O.M.") and the Knights of Myth, both of which devised night parades, masked balls, exquisite costumes and elaborate invitations.
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans.Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western Christian tradition).
In some Christian countries, especially those where the day is called Mardi Gras or a translation thereof, it is a carnival day, the last day of "fat eating" or "gorging" before the fasting period of Lent. [7]
What does Mardi Gras mean? In French, Mardi means “Tuesday” and gras means “fat.” That’s why the day is also referred to as Fat Tuesday. The word originated in France and was what people ...
Mardi Gras—the French term for 'Fat Tuesday'—lasts from January 6 until February 13. Carnival kicks off after Christmas on January 6 (otherwise known as Twelfth Night) and continues until Fat ...
The Monday before Mardi Gras is called Lundi Gras. 62. Coins and Mardi Gras beads are sometimes dubbed "doubloons." 63. In England, Ireland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, Fat Tuesday is ...
Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a sedate French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, [3] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiane, which included what are now the U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
The tradition of blazing torches lighting the way for parade-goers during nighttime Mardi Gras lives on. Called flambeaux, French for torch, these torches are part of a tradition that dates back ...