Although The Big Easy in Louisiana is perhaps best-known for its Mardi Gras revelry, the port city of Mobile, Alabama, founded in 1702 by French settlers, lays claim to being the city that first Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a sedate French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, [3] Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiane, which included what are now the U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. History of Mardi Gras In 1703, Mobile, Alabama was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras in the U.S., according to Curious Cuisiniere. "The first documented celebration of modern-day carnival, what people think of as carnival in the United States is historically without a doubt began in Mobile. Bienville also established "Fort Louis de la Louisiane" (which is now Mobile) in 1702. In 1703, the tiny settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrated America's very first Mardi Gras. In 1704, Mobile established a secret society (Masque de la Mobile), similar to those that form our current Mardi Gras krewes. It lasted until 1709. They say the first Mardi Gras celebration in America took place in 1703, when a group of French soldiers held an impromptu celebration in the settlement of Mobile. Their proof is in the fact that, not more than a year later, Frenchmen Nicholas Langlois established a Carnival organization called the Societe de Saint Louis which held their masked The first American Mardi Gras took place on March 3, 1699, when French explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville landed near present-day New Orleans, Louisiana. They held a The History of New Orleans Mardi Gras . Although the date of the first organized celebration of Mardi Gras in New Orleans is debatable, the 1730 account of one Marc-Antoine Caillot (a young clerk sent to Louisiana by the French Company of the Indies) mentions a celebration with music and dance, mask-wearing and costumes—including cross-dressing. The first Mardi Gras was held in Alabama, not Louisiana. Visit Louisiana during Carnival season and you’ll get caught up in a celebration that’s been part of the city’s history since the 1700s, but that doesn’t include the very first Mardi Gras celebration in the United States. Mardi Gras was observed for the first time in the New World by French pioneers at Twenty-Seven Mile Bluff, the first settlement of Mobile way back in 1703. And it only grew from there. On the night of February 24, 1857, under gaslit torches in New Orleans's warehouse district, a Mardi Gras tradition was born. At the intersection of Julia and Magazine Streets, the Mistick Krewe In 1703, Mobile, Alabama was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras in the U.S., according to Curious Cuisiniere. "The first documented celebration of modern-day carnival Those spread to the colonies and soon to southern settlements, including the Fort Louis de la Mobile, which was founded in 1703 and later became the city of Mobile, Alabama — home of the first Mardi Gras in America. The classic Mardi Gras colors are all New Orleans, though. There’s some debate over why purple, green, and gold were selected Mardi Gras, which is also known as Fat Tuesday, is a day of indulgence that marks the end of Carnival. It's immediately followed by Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent.Lent is a 40-day season of The first Mardi Gras “krewe” took to the streets in 1857, when the Mistick Krewe of Comus, “a group of New Orleans businessmen, decided to invent a more civilized celebration” after The first recorded celebration took place in 1703 in Mobile, Alabama. The first recorded Mardi Gras parade didn't happen in New Orleans until 1857, but celebrations and balls were common in the 1700s. The first Mardi Gras celebration in America was celebrated in 1703 in the settlement of Fort Louis de la Mobile. Mardi Gras was celebrated soon after the city of New Orleans was founded in 1718 After rowdy revelers began to get violent during the 1850s, a secret society called the Mistick Krewe of Comus staged the first large-scale, well-organized Mardi Gras parade in 1857. Emulating what they had seen in Paris, the students wore colorful costumes and danced in the streets. Ten years later, their revelry inspired a grand transition. In 1837, the first Mardi Gras parade took place in New Orleans. To this day, Mardi Gras is marked in many places, particularly New Orleans, by a grand procession and parade with floats. Mardi Gras Past and Present Traditions from the past that live on today. Mardi Gras has been celebrated in New Orleans since the explorer Iberville first set foot here on Mardi Gras Day 1699. In French colonial days, wealthy members of Creole society threw lavish Mardi Gras balls from Twelfth Night (Jan. 6) to Fat Tuesday Eve. Mobile, AL; Photo: CityofMobile.org. Mobile was the location of the very first Mardi Gras celebration in the U.S. in 1703. It has been celebrating since a city clerk named Joe Cain revived the port city’s Mardi Gras tradition after the Civil War.
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