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Mardi Gras Ideas
Date: February 2
Mardi Gras, which in French means "Fat
Tuesday", is a European "invention", a festival held on the day before
Ash Wednesday to wring the last ounce of fun out of the winter, before
entering the Lenten period. It is also known as Shrove Tuesday or
Pancake Day, but neither of those is half as much fun!
Originally a Catholic celebration, Mardi
Gras today knows little religious boundaries, except that it is held
on the Tuesday before Lent. But participants of all faiths are ready
and eager to partake in the festivities.
Massive events have sprung up around the world, with the two most
famous locations being those in Rio de Janiero, Brazil and New
Orleans, Louisiana. The party in Brazil gets started two weeks before
the actual day, and is a lavish and increasingly wild display of
excess in everything from decorations, to drinking, and costumes. In
New Orleans, the party can begin on the last of the Twelve Days of
Christmas, although the premier events are held in the same two-week
period before Fat Tuesday.
Mardi Gras events in New Orleans are largely the result of various
krewes, which are groups or associations dedicated to putting on the
best and most colorful parades and parties. Their events are spread
throughout the 14-day period, on almost any night of the week. The
parades are legendary, with costumes and decorations that become
successively more elaborate with each event. Traditionally, each
parade is ruled over by a king or queen from the sponsoring krewe,
although celebrities are often honored this way as well. And as
always, there is the tossing of bon-bons and necklaces to the masked
revelers along the way.
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