'Mardi Gras' (
French for "Fat Tuesday") is the day before
Ash Wednesday, and is also called "
Shrove Tuesday" or "
Pancake Day". It is the final day of
Carnival (
English ). It is a celebration that is held just before the beginning of the
Christian liturgical season of
Lent.
[1]
Dates
The date is chuj on Tuesday and can vary from
February 3 to
March 9 in non-
leap years or
February 4 to
March 9 in leap years. Like Lent, the date is dependent on that of
Easter.
For more information, go to the
list of dates for Mardi Gras for future years.
Locations
Perhaps the cities most famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations include
New Orleans,
Rio de Janeiro,
São Paulo,
Venice,
Salvador da Bahia, and
Mazatlán. Many other places have important Mardi Gras celebrations as well. The carnival is an important celebration in most of
Europe, and in many parts of
Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Panama's carnivals are gaining notoriety each year, with tourists from the U.S., Latin American and European countries increasing year after year.
South America, Latin America, and the Caribbean
Main articles: Brazilian Carnival
In Brazil, the Carnival celebrations in
Recife,
Olinda,
Salvador are well-known, among others, most notably
Rio de Janeiro. The annual Carnival that is held in
Rio de Janeiro in
Brazil is related to Mardi Gras. The celebrations of the Carnival end on Mardi Gras. This festival is an annual event that is held 2 weeks before the traditional Christian fasting of Lent. Thousands of people from across Brazil and also from other parts of the world come to attend the festivities. Carnival comes with a lot of music, good food, color and of course the
Samba dance. Mardi Gras, the last day, is an added attraction.
Carnival is celebrated in several Argentine cities in the subtropical northeast. Carnival in Buenos Aires is notable for the dancing murga troupes.
In the Caribbean,
Carnival is celebrated on a number of islands:
Aruba,
Barbados,
Dominica,
Dominican Republic,
Grenada,
Haiti,
Jamaica,
St. Lucia,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines,
Saint Kitts and Nevis, and
Trinidad and Tobago are some of the celebrants.
In
Mexico, there are big Carnival celebrations every year in
Mazatlán, which has "The third largest Mardi Gras in the world", and
Veracruz, which that include the election of a queen and street parades. There is also a week-long Carnival or Mardi Gras celebration in
Mérida,
Yucatán.
Carnival is celebrated in several Panamanian cities such as Las Tablas, Ocu, Chitre, Penonomé and Panama City. Carnival in this country is characterized by the soaking of people mainly via the use of water trucks and hoses. The celebrations tend to last through a four day holiday weekend. In Uruguay, the city of Montevideo hosts a large and lively Carnival, especially in its southern barrios.
United States
While not observed nationally throughout the
United States, a number of cities and regions in the country have notable celebrations.
Mardi Gras arrived in North America with the Le Moyne brothers,
"New Orleans & Mardi Gras History Timeline" (event list),
Mardi Gras Digest, 2005, webpage:
MG-time.
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 ''
Louisianne'', which included what are now the U.S. states of
Alabama,
Mississippi, and
Louisiana.
The expedition, led by Iberville, entered the mouth of the Mississippi River on the evening of March 2, 1699 Lundi Gras, not yet knowing it was the great river explored and claimed for France by de La Salle in 1683. The party proceeded upstream to a place on the west bank about 60 miles downriver from present-day New Orleans, where a small tributary emptied into the great river, and made camp. It was March 3, 1699... Mardi Gras, so in honor of this holiday, Iberville named the spot ''Point du Mardi Gras'' (French: "Mardi Gras Point") and called the small tributary Bayou Mardi Gras enlou. In 1699, the traditional Catholic celebration ensued leading to what many refer to as "North America's first Mardi Gras". Between 1700-1702, Bienville founded the settlement of Mobile (Alabama), as the first capital of French Louisiana,
"Timeline 18th Century:" (events),
Timelines of History, 2007, webpage:
TLine-1700-1724:
on "1702-1711" of Mobile.
and in 1703, the American Mardi Gras tradition began with French annual celebrations in Mobile.
"Mardi Gras in Mobile" (history),
Jeff Sessions, Senator, Library of Congress, 2006, webpage:
LibCongress-2665.
"Mardi Gras" (history),
Mobile Bay Convention & Visitors Bureau, 2007, webpage:
MGmobile.
Year 1704 began with the masked ball, ''Masque De La Mobile'',[ and in 1711, Mobile began the first parades.]
By 1720, Biloxi became the 2nd capital of Louisiana. The French customs were adopted there,[ and Mardi Gras is still celebrated along the Mississippi Gulf Coast to this day.]
In 1723, the capital of Louisiana was moved, due to fear of tides and hurricanes, to an inland harbor town founded 1718[ called "Nouvelle-Orléans" (New Orleans),][ and the tradition, which had started 20 years earlier in Mobile, was expanded. Nearly 125 years after Mobile's first parade of 1711,][ a krewe from Mobile, the ''Cowbellion de Rakin Society'' (1830), began the first known parades in New Orleans (1835).][ Over the passing decades, following their European customs, Carnival celebrations took place in all towns and cities in the colony. Mardi Gras Carnival celebrations became an annual event highlighted by lavish balls and masked spectacles, such as ''Masque de la Mobile'' from 1704.][ Some were small, private parties with select guest-lists, while others were raucous, public affairs. ]
Louisiana
New Orleans
Main articles: New Orleans Mardi Gras
New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to the city in addition to the celebrating locals for the parties and parades. Most tourists can be found within the French Quarter, especially Bourbon Street. Mardi Gras came to New Orleans with the French settlers at the start of the 18th century.
New Orleans developed new traditions, including Carnival organizations called Krewes, which decorate gaily colored floats, "Truck parades" of huge, decorated trucks often have more than 100 entries. Other parades are held by "walking clubs," consisting of maskers promenading to the blare of the city's famous jazz bands. There are also elaborate masked, tableau balls held by most of the parading krewes and other organizations which limit their activities only to balls. Usually invitation-only affairs, many of the balls feature the presentation of the city's debutantes.
Other Louisiana cities
New Roads, Louisiana hosts the state's oldest Mardi Gras celebration outside New Orleans. The family-friendly celebration consists of floats, marching bands and drill units.
Lafayette, Louisiana is home to a large Mardi Gras celebration which includes eight parades of floats and bands during the Carnival season.
Other places in the New Orleans metropolitan area also have celebrations; notably the suburbs of Metairie, La Place and Chalmette have large parades. Without the restrictions on commercial sponsorship of parades seen in Orleans Parish, there is much advertising and trademark placements on the parades in Metairie. Metairie parades also tend to be more family-oriented, and even include a children's parade.
Houma, Louisiana hosts a significant Mardi Gras celebration of nine parades, three of which roll on Shrove Tuesday, and the others on the two weekends preceding the big day.
Other cities as well hold Mardi Gras parades, including Minden, Springhill, Natchitoches, and Columbia. Mardi Gras is one of the exceptions to the Louisiana law against wearing hoods and masks in public, the other two being Halloween and religious beliefs.
Courir de Mardi Gras
In parts of the Cajun country, such as Eunice, Louisiana, Basile, Louisiana Church Point, Louisiana and Mamou, Louisiana, the traditional 'Courir du Mardi Gras' (French - Running of the Mardi Gras) is still run, sometimes by maskers on horseback led by "Le Capitaine" who gather ingredients for making the communal meal (usually a gumbo). Participants gather in costume and move from home to home requesting ingredients for the night's meal. This rural Mardi Gras draws on traditions that are centuries old as revelers sing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras," a song echoing medieval melodies. People escape from ordinary life partly through the alcohol many consume in their festive quest, but even more through the roles they portray. As they act out their parts in a wild, gaudy pageant, they are escaping from routine existence, freed from the restraints that confine them every other day in the year. [2]
The capitaine maintains control over the Mardi Gras. He issues instructions to the riders as they assemble early in the morning and then leads them on their run. When they arrive at a farm house, he obtains permission to enter private property, after which the riders may charge toward the house, where the Mardi Gras sing, dance, and beg until the owner offers them an ingredient for a gumbo. Often, the owner will throw a live chicken into the air that the Mardi Gras will chase, like football players trying to recover a fumble. By mid to late afternoon, the courir returns to town and parades down the main street on the way to the location where the evening gumbo will be prepared. [2]
Other US cities
Galveston Island
Galveston, Texas is home to Texas' largest Mardi Gras festival, the island tradition begun in 1867, and which includes night parades, masked balls and exquisite costumes.
Detroit
Michigan's first Catholic settlers were French, but the Fat Tuesday celebrations of modern times in Detroit stem from more the recent influence of the Polish Paczki Day.
Biloxi area
Biloxi, Mississippi holds a traditional morning parade by the Gulf Coast Carnival Association (GCCA). Nearby Gulfport, holds a traditional night parade sponsored by the Krewe of Gemini. Other parades include evening events in D'Iberville and Gautier, Mississippi. Damage from Hurricane Katrina has led to either deviations from traditional routes or parade cancellations in some locations.
Mobile
Main articles: Mardi Gras in Mobile
Mobile, Alabama, as the first capital of French Louisiana, has the longest tradition of observing Mardi Gras in America,
with the celebration of Mardi Gras in Mobile dating back to 1703, and detailed by the Mardi Gras Museum, located in downtown Mobile.
In 1704, Mobile began the annual masked ball, ''Masque de la Mobile'',[ and in 1711, Mobile began the first parades (''Boeuf Gras'' society).]
In 1723, the capital of Louisiana was moved to a new town founded 1718[ called "Nouvelle-Orléans" (New Orleans),][ and the tradition, which had started 20 years earlier in Mobile, was expanded. Nearly 125 years after Mobile's first parade of 1711,][ a krewe from Mobile, the ''Cowbellion de Rakin' Society'', began the first known organized parades in New Orleans (1835),][ which were previously impromptu gatherings on the final day.]
Order of Myths parade, in
Mobile, 2007.
Mobile's celebrations were halted with the American Civil War,[ but were revived in 1866 with a Tuesday parade in Mobile by Joe Cain, who had worked with New Orleans parades in 1865, and whose memory is still honored each Carnival (see: the Joe Cain Parade, including his honorary "Merry Widows"). The Mobile Mardi Gras season traditionally ends with the Order of Myths (OOM) parade, produced by the society of the same name since 1868.][ This is a special honor, because the 'double-O M's' are one of the oldest continuously parading Mardi Gras societies in America. Other parading organizations of long-standing include the Infant Mystics, an annual event since 1874 and who roll on the Monday evening prior to Mardi Gras; the Knights of Revelry, who have rolled at midday on Fat Tuesday since 1875; and the satirical Comic Cowboys, who have paraded on Mardi Gras afternoon since 1884.][ Mobile Mardi Gras royalty includes King Felix, who has reigned since 1872, and his queen, as well as the king and queen of the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association. Each of Mobile's more than two dozen parades draw, according to careful police estimates, anywhere from 20,000 to 100,000 spectators. During these parades - held on Mardi Gras itself and in the three weeks preceding it - masked and costumed float riders toss candy, beads (bead necklaces), toys, stuffed animals, commemorative stamped coins, and ''Moon Pies'', a sweet baked good that combines a graham cracker like crust with marshmallow and is then covered in a flavored frosting (typically chocolate, banana, or strawberry).][ While most parading societies also hold elaborate balls, other societies stage balls only, such as the city's oldest mystic society, the Striker's Independent Society, formed in 1843.]
Pensacola
Pensacola, Florida hosts a Mardi Gras Celebration. The Pensacola celebrations also use ''Moon Pies'' in combination with beads, coins, candies & Krewe related trades.
St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri hosts the St. Louis Mardi Gras festival in the Soulard district
, generally attracting between 500,000 and 600,000 people and growing each year. The event is similar to the New Orleans celebration in that it hosts several parades during the Mardi Gras season.
Port Arthur
Port Arthur, Texas is home to a very fast-growing Mardi Gras celebration. It began in 1992.
Later
As of 2005, there is a corporate sponsored party in the Gaslamp Quarter of downtown San Diego.[4] Mardi Gras celebrations in San Luis Obispo have been controversial in recent years, with leaders of this Central California city calling for an end to public celebrations in 2005. Civic and university leaders hope to end the event as a state-wide party destination for students. ''See: San Luis Obispo Mardi Gras controversy.''
Europe
In the Belgian city of Binche the "Mardi Gras" is the most important day of the year and the summit of the Carnival of Binche.
Around 1000 ''Gilles'' are dancing through the city from 4.00 AM to late hours on traditional carnival songs.
In 2003, the Carnival of Binche was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
The celebration of Mardi Gras in Germany is called Karneval, Fastnacht, or Fasching[5]. Fastnacht means "Eve of the Beginning of the Fast", and thus it is celebrated until the day before Ash Wednesday.
Carnival is celebrated in much of Italy. That in Venice is one of the most famous in the world, along with that of Rio and New Orleans. See: Carnival of Venice
In Slovenia it is called Kurentovanje. It's from the word Kurent which is the name of a mask- made of sheep skin and is richly decorated. People make noise with bells attached on their hips. It's also one of the traditions to eat doughnuts.
In Sweden this is called Fettisdagen. It comes from the word "fett" (fat) and "tisdag" (Tuesday). Originally, this was the only day one should eat "Semlor" (Semla) (fat Tuesday buns), but these are now found in most grocery stores and bakeries preceding the holiday, and up until Easter.
Asia
In Goa, India, the Carnival is celebrated for three days culminating on Fat Tuesday. Goa was a Portuguese colony until 1961.
Australia
The large LGBT pride festival in Sydney, Australia is called the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, although it is held in February.
References
1. reference needed
2. www.lsue.edu "Mardi Gras in Rural Acadiana"
3. www.lsue.edu "Mardi Gras in Rural Acadiana"
4. "Bourbon Street in San Diego", The San Diego Union-Tribune, February 7 2005, [1].
5. http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/karneval.htm
External links
★ Mardi Gras.com, in affiliation with the New Orleans Times-Picayune, including live webcast coverage, archives and FAQ
★ Mardi Gras Mobile, Alabama
★ Mardi Gras Digest News, Researched Articles and information on Mardi Gras
★ Mardi Gras Galveston Island
★ Mardi Gras parades in Lafayette
★ Mardi Gras - Myth & History
★ Mardi Gras (with video) in Merida Yucatan Mexico
★ Official Carnaval website for Merida Mexico
★ Official Mardi Gras website for The Lakeshore Mardi Gras in Toronto Ontario Canada
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