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The Venetian tradition dates back to the 13th century and the city remains a popular Mardi Gras destination today. Still, the original intent of Mardi Gras has always been to indulge, within the context of Catholic morality and reason, the last day before the start of the Lenten season. On February 28 th in cities across the nation, people celebrated Mardi Gras. The day after Mardi Gras social media feeds were clogged with people showing off crosses of ash on their foreheads. What does all this mean? Mardi Gras is the last day before the Christian church’s season of lent. Lent is the 40 days before Easter (46, really, but The French translation for Mardi Gras is "fat Tuesday". Why do people have pancakes on Shrove Tuesday? The tradition was born out of followers trying to use up all their fats and eggs before Lent. This free infographic, “From Mardi Gras to Easter” will help you answer that question. Connecting the Dots. Believe it or not, Jesus Christ is the common thread running all the way from Mardi Gras through Lent and Holy Week and right into Easter. In this free infographic, you can follow the journey from Mardi Gras to the cross and the Mardi Gras is also tied to Easter. Mardi Gras day always takes place 47 days before Easter. This year, Mardi Gras is March 4. From 1600 to 2099, March 31 and April 16 are the most frequent dates For many people, Mardi Gras is just a big party with beads, binge drinking and parades. The purpose of Lent is to prepare for Easter, and many Christians do that through prayer, repentance for The first Mardi Gras festival in what is now the U.S. may have taken place on March 3, 1699, where New Orleans was founded, Mardi Gras New Orleans says, but other think it began in 1703 in Mobile, AL. Catholics also call Fat Tuesday Shrove Tuesday or Shrovetide, the conclusion to Ordinary Time. Brittanica.com states Fat Tuesday means the same as the French name Mardi Gras − which comes from the custom of using all the fats in the home in preparation for abstinence and fasting ahead of Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) is the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent. In times of greater Lenten austerity in Catholic countries, Mardi Gras offered an opportunity for households to consume some foods they would not enjoy until Easter. Mardi Gras, regarded as the last celebration before the start of Lent leading up to Easter, will take place on March 4 this year, according to the Mardi Gras New Orleans website. It always falls One of the terms often used with Mardi Gras is the word "carnival." We picture huge public celebrations or parades. We picture huge public celebrations or parades. Anyone who visits one of the big carnivals held on this day usually bring back stories of self-indulgence and hedonism that make most people blush. Mardi Gras, a bit like Easter and Christmas, is disputed in its Christian origins. Like there are “pagan” elements to both Christmas (Christmas trees) and Easter (the Easter bunny), Mardi Gras can most directly trace its roots to pagan celebrations of spring time and fertility. A mysterious African-American folk tradition in which maskers, in the guise of skeletons, bring the spirits of the dead to the streets on Mardi Gras. Their costumes have a homemade, do-it-yourself quality, consisting of black garb decorated with skeletal patterns and white aprons emblazoned with skull-and-crossbones imagery and scrawled Residents of New Orleans have been celebrating Mardi Gras since the 18th century" ("Mardi Gras," Encarta). Mardi Gras "is a lively, colorful [not to mention bawdy and debased] celebration held on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent begins," says the World Book Encyclopedia. Mardi Gras always falls 47 days before Easter Sunday, which means it can land anywhere between February 3rd and March 9th. Some people refer to Carnival and Mardi Gras interchangeably, although Carnival technically stretches the whole season from January 6th to Fat Tuesday, while Mardi Gras is Fat Tuesday itself. Balloons, streamers and confetti are great Mardi Gras decorations, but you can keep it as simple or go as over-the-top as you like. The colors of Mardi Gras are green, purple and gold, so festive decorations in that color scheme are lovely and on theme. Have fun! Garnish foods with Mardi Gras party cake toppers. Little bags of confetti are Q: When and where do the Mardi Gras Indians parade? The Mardi Gras Indians only parade on Mardi Gras day and on Super Sunday (generally the 3rd Sunday closest to St. Joseph’s Day in March). The Mardi Gras day routes are not published anywhere, but they happen in and around their inner-city neighborhoods. Mardi Gras When: March 4, 2025 | February 17, 2026 It’s time to celebrate Fat Tuesday and party New Orleans style! Mardi Gras Parade; Mardi Gras Party; Mask Making Workshop ; Mardi Gras Games ; Mardi Gras Bingo and Trivia; Themed Youth Activities; To celebrate, don't forget your beads and wear your favorite purple, green and gold attire! Dr I shall now explain the Mardi Gras-to-Lent-to-Easter timeline. But heads up, kids—this may be a reverent topic, but I curse a little. Here’s how you start with Mardi Gras— —a decadent, costumed feast and blowout that includes drinking and eating a lot, plus parades and glitter and robes and beads and shiny crowns and
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