Mardi Gras Celebrations

Time to Celebrate...It's Mardi Gras Day!!

Some call it Carnival, others Mardi Gras, a handful refer to it as Fat or Shrove Tuesday, whatever you choose to call the day before Ash Wednesday the celebrations and meaning is still relatively the same. Mardi Gras is the last opportunity for celebrations and indulgence in food and drink before the temperance of Lent, which is a time of sacrifice for Jesus in the Christian religion. Although Mardi Gras refers to a specific day, the term often encompasses a much longer period of celebrations leading up to Mardi Gras Day. The Carnival season is marked by spectacular parades featuring floats, pageants, elaborate costumes, masked balls, and dancing in the streets.

Everywhere around the world puts a twist on the celebratory activities. New Orleans, Louisiana has the most popular celebration in the United States. Streamers and flags are hung, traditional Mardi Gras colored beads, purple (symbolic of justice), green (symbolic of faith) and gold (symbolic of power), are thrown and king’s cake is eaten throughout the city weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday.

Many European countries celebrate the season as well. In fact, in Binche, Belgium the Mardi Gras festival is the most important day of the year. The "Carnival of Binche" was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. Carnevale is the traditional pre-Lenten celebration in Italy. There are traditional foods and dolci (sweets) distinctively associated with carnevale in Italy, including fritelle, crespelle, castagnole, chiacchere, bugie, galani, fritole, sanguinaccio and tortelli, among others.

Other cities famous for Mardi Gras celebrations include Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Barranquilla, Colombia, Sydney, Australia, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, Quebec City, Canada; and Mazatlán, Sinaloa in Mexico. Mardi Gras or Carnival is one of the most popular events around the world. Wherever you are you can find some exciting celebration so join in on the merriment and give into your temptations one last time before Lent begins.

Happy Fat Tuesday!!