Mobile Carnival poster from 1900. Floats lining up for an Order of Inca parade in 2007. Mardi Gras is the annual Carnival celebration in Mobile, Alabama.It is the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana. Carnival, American Style: Mardi Gras at Mobile and New Orleans. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990. "Mardi Gras in Mobile: Excerpts from the 1908 Diary of Young Visitor, Senta Jones." Gulf Coast Historical Review 11 (Spring 1996): 69-76. Mardi Gras Vertical Files, Mobile Public Library Local History and Genealogy Section, Mobile, Alabama. 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 Related Reading: History of the Mardi Gras King Cake. Fun Facts About Mardi Gras in Mobile . 1. The celebration’s traditional motif is green, purple, and gold. Gold and purple have always been the colors of Mardi Gras in Mobile. Purple has long been associated with European royal dynasties. It is also the liturgical color of Lent in Christianity. Experience: Carnival, the extended Mardi Gras season, is Mobile, Alabama’s, greatest living tradition. First introduced to the United States in Mobile by the French in the early 18 th Century, Mobile is the original home to Mardi Gras in the US. The celebrations are increasing grander and more diverse with each passing year. Start your Mardi Gras adventure in Mobile at the Mobile Carnival Museum. The Mobile Carnival Museum highlights the history of Mardi Gras in its true birthplace - Mobile, Alabama. The museum features 14 galleries, video presentations, a pictorial hallway and an interactive float area - all in a restored historic mansion. Julian Rayford, the famed folklorist whose efforts created the modern-day Joe Cain Day celebration during Mobile's Mardi Gras, speaks during the 1980 event in Bienville Square in downtown Mobile While Mardi Gras is commonly intertwined with New Orleans, the true history of where the celebrations started lay in Mobile, AL, around 1703, making it an over 300-year-old tradition. Whether you live around Daphne, Fairhope, or other Alabama communities, the Mardi Gras tradition remains alive and well near Spanish Fort, AL. The public can also purchase tickets to the Mobile Area Mardi Gras Association's Grand Marshal's Ball on the Friday before Mardi Gras ($50), its Junior Monarch Royal Luncheon on Saturday ($40) and Mobile’s Mardi Gras traditions trace back to 1703 when French settlers held the first celebration to commemorate their first year of survival in the community they built. Today, the lively festivities showcase a variety of cultural influences and feature parades, elaborate costumes and other prized traditions. French for Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras is always on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. This year it will be held on Tuesday Feb. 13. Mardi Gras is only one day but the Mardi Gras season, also known as the carnival season, can last for weeks culminating on Fat Tuesday. Many people assume that New Orleans is the birthplace of Mardi Gras. However, many While Mardi Gras is commonly intertwined with New Orleans, the true history of where the celebrations started lay in Mobile, AL, around 1703, making it an over 300-year-old tradition. Whether you live around Daphne, Fairhope, or other Alabama communities, the Mardi Gras tradition remains alive and well near Spanish Fort, AL. Originated in 1703, Mobile is THE birthplace of America's original Mardi Gras. Joe Cain is the man. He brought Mardi Gras back to life after the Civil War by leading an impromptu parade down the streets of Mobile and we've been doing it ever since. He has a whole day dedicated to him during Mardi Gras is a Christian holiday and popular cultural phenomenon that dates back thousands of years to pagan spring and fertility rites. It's most famously celebrated with parades in New Orleans Start your Mardi Gras adventure in Mobile at the Mobile Carnival Museum. The Mobile Carnival Museum highlights the history of Mardi Gras in its true birthplace - Mobile, Alabama. The museum features 14 galleries, video presentations, a pictorial hallway and an interactive float area - all in a restored historic mansion. View and download the 2025 Mobile Mardi Gras parade schedule, complete with dates, times and routes for all Mobile & Baldwin County parades. Mobile Carnival Museum. The Mobile Carnival Museum is a history museum that chronicles over 300 years of Carnival and Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama. The museum is housed in the historic Bernstein-Bush mansion on Government Street in downtown Mobile If you want to find out more about the history of Mardi Gras in Mobile, check out Mardi Gras in Mobile— a new book by L. Craig Roberts, writer, historian, and docent extraordinaire at the Mobile “The Art and Design of Mardi Gras, ” organized in partnership with the History Museum of Mobile and the Mobile Carnival Museum, is open through May 3 at the Mobile Museum of Art, 4850 Museum Drive in West Mobile. A stunning display of all things Carnival and what’s required behind the scenes to make the magic happen. USS McFaul arrives in Mobile for Mardi Gras, continuing naval tradition; Smoke, spectacle, survival: MOTs and wartime Mardi Gras take museum’s center stage; Welcome to ‘Deep Gras’: How one
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