Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is the day before Ash Wednesday, and is also called "Shrove Tuesday", the final day of Carnival ("car-nee-VAHL" elsewhere but in New Orleans "CAR-na-val"). It is a celebration that is held just before the beginning of the Christian liturgical season of Lent. Carnival season celebrations are also discussed in the Carnival article (see).

Contents

1 Dates 2 Locations 2.1 Quebec 2.2 Brazil 2.3 Caribbean 2.4 United States 2.4.1 Mobile 2.4.2 Pensacola 2.4.3 New Orleans 2.4.4 San Diego 2.4.5 Elsewhere in Louisiana 2.5 Australia 3 Colors 4 External links

Dates

The date can vary from early February to as late as the second week in March. Like Lent, the date is dependent on that of Easter.

Mardi Gras falls on the following dates in the following years:

• 2004 - February 24
• 2005 - February 8
• 2006 - February 28
• 2007 - February 20
• 2008 - February 5
• 2009 - February 24
• 2010 - February 16
• 2011 - March 8
• 2012 - February 21
• 2013 - February 12
• 2014 - March 4

Locations

Perhaps the three cities most famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations are New Orleans (whose carnival has become legendary), Rio de Janeiro (known for having the most ostentatious and licentious carnival), and Venice (whose carnival traditions have their roots in pagan times, and were shaped into what they are today during the Renaissance.) Many other places have important Mardi Gras celebrations as well. Carnival is an important celebration in most of Europe (Especially Southern Europe), and in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Quebec

In Quebec the carnival period usually coincided with the coldest days of the year when temperatures dropped to forty degrees below zero, linking it to snow and ice sports. As a result the biggest carnival there, the Quebec City Winter Carnival was eventually moved from a lunar calendar, set with Easter in mind, to a solar calendar, and other winter carnivals in Quebec followed suit, abandoning the traditional Christian dates and placing the midwinter celebration at the end of January and the beginning of February, in order to avoid the danger of a late February or early March meltdown of carnival ice sculptures, ice castles and snow trails.

Brazil

In Brazil, the Carnival celebrations in Recife, Olinda, Salvador are well-known, among others.

See: Brazilian Carnival

Caribbean

In the Caribbean, Carnival is celebrated in Trinidad and Tobago.

United States

Mobile

Mobile, Alabama has perhaps the longest tradition of observed Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, and still celebrates it each year. Celebration of Mardi Gras in Mobile dates back to French colonial times. Celebrations were halted with the American Civil War, but were revived with a parade by Joe Cain in 1866, whose memory is still honored each Carnival. The Mobile Mardi Gras season is always concluded by the Order of Myths parade, produced by the society of the same name. This is a special honor, because the 'double-O M's' are the oldest continuous Mardi Gras society in America. One unique aspect of the Mobile celebrations is the use of Moon Pies, a sweet baked good that combines a graham cracker like crust with marshmallow, and is then covered in a flavored frosting.

Pensacola

Pensacola, Florida is home to the third largest Mardi Gras Celebration in the United States. This is probably due to it being geographically near Mobile, Alabama, although other possibilities exist. The Pensacola celebrations also use Moon Pies in combination with beads, coins, and small candies.

New Orleans

Main article: New Orleans Mardi Gras

New Orleans Mardi Gras is particularly well-known. The celebrations draw many tourists to the city in addition to the celebrating locals for the parties and parades. New Orleans traditions include Krewes such as the Krewe du Vieux, the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, and the famous Rex parade, in addition to Mardi Gras Indians and king cake parties.

San Diego

Main article: San Diego Mardi Gras

A corporate sponsered party in the Gas Lamp Quarter of downtown San Diego. For the 2005 event, it is advertised as "The Mardi Gras Festival is an outdoor musical block party! We feature Icy Cold Bud Light and Tasty Southern Comfort Hurricanes. Don't miss our electric parade, spicy Cajun & Creole dishes along with all our smokin' nightclubs and many stages full of hot bands. Look for tons of cool items like "Rad Hatter" hats & masks along with every kind of bead imaginable."

Elsewhere in Louisiana

Other places in the Greater New Orleans Metro Area also have celebrations, notably the suburb of Metarie, Louisiana has large parades. Without the restrictions on commercial ties to parades of Orleans Parish, there is much advertising and trademark placements on the parades there.

In parts of the Cajun country of South-West Louisiana the traditional Corrir du Mardi Gras is still run, sometimes by maskers on horseback who gather ingredients for making the communal meal.

There are also Mardi Gras parades in Northern Louisiana in Shreveport, Louisiana by the Krewe of Centaur and the Krewe of Gemini and in Monroe, Louisiana and West Monroe, Louisiana by the Krewe of Janus.

Australia

The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras in Sydney, Australia, is a well-known pride parade.

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Mardi Gras is the title of a 1972 album by Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Colors

Meaning of Colors
Purple	Justice
Green	Faith
Gold	Power

</table>The three main Mardi Gras colors (purple, gold, and green) were chosen for symbolic reasons. The colors were decided upon in 1892, when the Rex Parade theme Symbolism of Colors gave the colors their meanings. These colors influenced the official colors of the Louisiana State University (purple and gold) and Tulane University (blue and green). These universities have colors similar to Mardi Gras because they were deciding upon their official colors right before Mardi Gras when all the shops had an abundance of cheap purple, green, and gold fabric.

External links

• Article on Mardi Gras at ThisIsTheLife.com (http://www.thisisthelife.com/en/carnivals-festivals/mardi-gras.htm)
• Mardi Gras in New Orleans (http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/)

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