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Mardi Gras (UK: / ˌ m ɑːr d i ˈ ɡ r ɑː /, US: / ˈ m ɑːr d i ɡ r ɑː /; [1] [2] also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. [3]
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 ...
Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, and gras means "fat." This name comes from the custom of eating all the fatty, rich foods in the house prior to Lent in order to prepare for fasting and ...
Mobile Carnival poster from 1900. Floats lining up for an Order of Inca parade in 2007. Mardi Gras is the annual Carnival celebration in Mobile, Alabama.It is the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana.
The famous New Orleans celebration of Mardi Gras has a rich history. Learn Mardi Gras facts and the origins of the holiday's traditions such as beads, masks, and king cake.
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 practice of exposing female breasts in exchange for Mardi Gras beads, however, was mostly limited to tourists in the upper Bourbon Street area. [5] [62] In the crowded streets of the French Quarter, generally avoided by locals on Mardi Gras Day, flashers on balconies cause crowds to form on the streets.
When you think Mardi Gras, you likely think parties, parades, and masks in green and gold, and purple. You might have feasted on a colorful sprinkle-topped king cake or know that it comes right ...