When one thinks of New Orleans, one thinks of the French Quarter and Bourbon Street, of hot Cajun and Creole cuisine and cool Dixieland jazz, of swamps and plantations, antiques and Voodoo. With all the city and environs have to offer, one crazy event stands almost synonymous with the city itself - Mardi Gras. This period of madness and merriment leads up to Lent, and the locals certainly know how to celebrate this festive period. The spirit and romance of Mardi Gras is felt in the music on the streets; the colorful parades and late-night parties; through the creatively costumed figures lining the streets and in grandiose private masquerade balls. Mardi Gras is a time when all walks of life come together for one gigantic party.
Since the first modern day pageant was presented in 1857, with timeouts occasioned by World Wars, more than 1,800 Mardi Gras parades have been staged in metro New Orleans. The festival that was conceived as a party the city threw for itself has grown into one of the world's grandest tourist attractions. Yet for all its international fame, it can be difficult for a first-timer to grasp. The celebration even has its own vocabulary, and to make matters a bit more confusing, Mardi Gras is scheduled on a different date each year! Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Mardi Gras, however, is its connection to religion.
Carnival, loosely translated from Latin as 'farewell to flesh,' is the season of merriment that starts in New Orleans each year on January 6, the Twelfth Night Feast of the Epiphany - the day the three kings visited the Christ Child. Mardi Gras, French for Fat Tuesday, is the single-day climax of the season. While Mardi Gras undoubtedly has Pagan, pre-Christian origins, the Catholic Church legitimized the festival as a brief celebration before the penitential season of Lent. The date of Mardi Gras is set to occur 46 days before Easter and can fall as early as February 3 or as late as March 9.
The single custom that most distinguishes Mardi Gras parades is that of throws - trinkets tossed from the floats - which turn New Orleans parades into crowd participation events unmatched anywhere. 'Throw me something mister' is the battle cry of the million-plus people who line the parade routes. Most popular among the millions of throws are those that illustrate the organization's logo and the parade's theme, including plastic drinking cups, medallion necklaces and colorful aluminum coins called doubloons.
Mardi Gras remains an event and a spirit that must be experienced to be understood. It's a mixture of centuries-old traditions and high-tech innovations. From the bawdy behavior of Bourbon Street to the family festival that Mardi Gras is everywhere else, the Carnival season in New Orleans truly defies description.
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