The celebration of Mardi Gras has been a part of cultures for centuries. French for Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent a 40-day period of prayer and fasting observed by many Christians.
Mardi Gras is full of parades, parties and basically gastronomic indulgence before entering a period of abstinence and reflection.
The origin of Mardi Gras lies in ancient pagan celebrations of spring and infertility. It can be traced all the way back to medieval Europe. Although the festival season is celebrated in many cities, New Orleans, is one of the most well known.
The very first Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans was held in 1837. However, the first American celebration of Mardi Gras happened in 1699 near where New Orleans is now.
Mardi Gras is known for celebrating life. The most popular colors associated with Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. These colors all have meaning as purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power. Many people participate by wearing elaborate costumes and masks emulating these colors.
The traditional dessert associated with Mardi Gras is the King Cake. The cakes are fried, doughy, frosted and glazed in the traditional Mardi Gras colors. The dessert is braided and circular to resemble a crown. Many of these cakes have a small baby figurine inside and whoever gets the piece of cake with the baby must host next year’s party.
The parades and parties are primarily hosted by social groups that are known as Krewes; each has its own history and traditions. There are more than 60 Krewes.
The royalty Krewes are Krewe of Zulu, which is named after the fiercest of the African tribes, and Krewe of Rex, which was responsible for the idea of the day parades, the official Mardi Gras flag and colors, and for the most popular throws, the doubloon.
The all-male Rex Krewe has ruled as King of Carnival since 1872. The Super-Krewes include Endymion, Bacchus and Orpheus.
Another tradition affiliated with Mardi Gras is the throwing of the beads. People on the floats or in the parades will throw beads, doubloons and other trinkets to the crowd. Spectators yell “Hey Mister, throw me some beads!” This is a tradition that goes back to the 1800s.
