Mardi Gras 2024: Everything to know about the New Orleans celebration

It’s just another Tuesday in the eyes of the rest of America. However, if you were raised in New Orleans, you were privileged to celebrate “Fat Tuesday,” or Mardi Gras, an extra holiday that very few people get to experience. Mardi Gras is much more than just that, even while it may be best known for its wild parties and sporadic nudity for TV viewers (because, after all, the spicy stuff draws the most attention). For people that reside in New Orleans, the festival holds great significance because to its rich and illustrious past. Above all, though, it’s an excuse to get out your folding chairs and wooden ladders, observe some parades, pick up some beads, and enjoy yourself.

Although Mardi Gras is most associated with America’s annual celebration in New Orleans, Louisiana, the event itself dates back thousands of years. With financial support from aristocrat Bernard de Marigny, the French Catholic tradition held its inaugural gala and parade in 1833. “Fat Tuesday,” or Mardi Gras in French, was observed on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Fat Tuesday was observed as part of the customary 40-day, 40-night fast observed by Christians.

 

the day before the fast started to feast on rich, fatty foods; thus, the name. Parades and balls are the two main events that celebrate the Mardi Gras season. Marching bands and elaborately adorned, fantastical “floats,” on which people ride and toss objects to the throng, are features of the parades. The most well-known throws are colorful beads, although riders have also been known to toss doubloons, plastic cups, toys, teddy animals, and more.

Mardi Gras balls are organized especially for Krewes, the collectives who organize each procession. During the parade, each Krewe has a king and queen who ride in a position of honor. The balls are regarded as high-class gatherings that provide debutantes with a chance to advance in society. In New Orleans, the largest and most established Krewes are Orpheus (1993), Bacchus (1968), Endymion (1967), and Zulu (1916).

Costumes are another custom associated with Mardi Gras, usually worn by participants as well as by parade spectators. The official colors of the festival are gold, green, and purple. Carnival, or Mardi Gras, is celebrated outside of the United States in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the Czech Republic.

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