What is Mardi Gras: Know all about the festival, its origin and celebrations around the world (2024)

Mardi Gras is celebrated in several nations across the world on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. It marks the end of Christian festivities that begin on January 6 with Epiphany and the beginning of the Christian Lent period, when they observe abstinence and fasting.

An important part of the festival, aside from merry-making, is food, which is why it is known as ‘Fat Tuesday’ in the United States. Typically, and historically, on this day, Christian homes would finish eating all the leftover meat and bread (basically, whatever food is not consumed during Lent), in preparation for the 40 days of fasting and penance they would observe between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.

This year Mardi Gras is being celebrated on February 13 around the world.

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Why Mardi Gras

Well, Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, literally and it comes from the custom of consuming all the fats in the home before Lent. The holiday got its French name after French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, on March 2, 1699, arrived in modern-day Mobile, Alabama (United States) on Fat Tuesday and named the place Point du Mardi Gras. It is believed he had thrown a little party there on Fat Tuesday, which later became a custom for French travellers, who would arrive in Alabama to celebrate the festival.

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How is Mardi Gras celebrated?

Gold, green, and shades of purple (signifying power, faith, and justice) dominate Mardi Gras celebrations, along with the popular and inalienable King Cake. It is believed that back in 1872, the welcoming committee of Grand Duke Alexis had handed out beads of purple, green, and gold to the revellers, to mirror the colours of the royal’s home. Street parades with masked attendees playing jubilant music are common this time of the year too and are widely popular in New Orleans, United States.

As for King Cake, the story dates back further to Medieval Times, when European rulers would commemorate the 12th day of Christmas with sweets, signifying royal visits to baby Jesus. That is why the iconic glazed pastries that are consumed on Mardi Gras are called King Cake.

These days, the cakes are doughy and fried, iced and glazed, usually in colours associated with Mardi Gras. Typically, they are braided and spherical to mimic the crown of a king. Most cakes include a little baby figure baked within; the custom is that whoever discovers the toy gets to throw the next major party.

Why is it also called Fat Tuesday?

Why is Fat Tuesday another name for Mardi Gras? It's actually rather easy: "mardi" means Tuesday and "gras" means fat in French.

The festival's religious roots are the source of its name. The day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent and is a day of repentance, is Mardi Gras. That means that for many celebrants, Mardi Gras represents their final opportunity to indulge in an abundance of meat and fatty meals before the season of fasting and meat abstinence begins.

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The Secret Society behind Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras was frequently cancelled or outlawed for its destructive drunken parties since its inception in the early 1700s. However, in 1837, a secret society called the Mistik Krewe of Comus set out to elevate the chaotic event by substituting opulent balls and parades for the revelry. New Orleans' "Fat Tuesday" festivities eventually attracted a lot of attention and excitement, and the city went on to become known as the nation's Mardi Gras capital.

America’s oldest Mardi Gras celebration

While historians agree that New Orleans is unquestionably the epicentre of contemporary American Mardi Gras, the earliest known celebration of the holiday was probably held in Mobile, Alabama. They cite the trip journals of Pierre Le Moyne D'Iberville, a French soldier and adventurer who lived at the start of the 18th century and saw a Mass said on Mardi Gras Day. The city still goes all out for Mardi Gras today, with parties, a parade and extravagant costumes.

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Celebrations around the world

Venice is still the location of some of the most well-known costumes for the festival and hosts spectacular masquerade parties every year. The bauta, a full face mask without a mouth opening, is one especially well-liked costume. Some people dress up as plague doctors and use the same beaked masks that physicians did in the 17th century when treating plague sufferers.
Similar to New Orleans' Mardi Gras, Brazil's funfair season honours overindulgence before to Lent. The celebrations' ancient Roman roots are identical to those of their American equivalents.

The weekend before the Catholic feast, Rio de Janeiro's streets are alive with parades, dancing, costumes and balls.

Additionally, several American towns have given Mardi Gras a distinctive twist of their own. Every year on Fat Tuesday, residents in rural Louisiana come together for the annual Courir de Mardi Gras, a Cajun custom that involves a foot race between participants dressed in costumes and a sprint up a greased pole to see who can reach the top and capture the chicken first.