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Some point to 1699 as year the first American Mardi Gras was held, when French explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville landed about 60 miles south of present-day New Orleans 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 Mardi Gras (UK: / ˌ m ɑːr d i ˈ ɡ r ɑː /, US: / ˈ m ɑːr d i ɡ r ɑː /; [1] [2] also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. [3] Now, Mardi Gras always falls on the Tuesday before Lent, but Three Kings' Day (January 6), is both the official end of Christmas and the first day of the Carnival season. The origin of king cakes and the funny baby tradition can also be traced to Saturnalia. Mardi Gras is a festive day celebrated in France on Shrove Tuesday (the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday), which marks the close of the pre-Lenten season. The French name Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday, from the custom of using all the fats in the home before Lent. What does Mardi Gras mean? In French, Mardi means “Tuesday” and gras means “fat.” That’s why the day is also referred to as Fat Tuesday. The word originated in France and was what people used to describe the day before Ash Wednesday, when they would binge on rich foods such as meat, eggs, milk, and cheese before Lent began. On March 2, 1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville arrived at a plot of ground 60 miles directly south of New Orleans, and named it "Pointe du Mardi Gras" when his men realized it was the eve of the festive holiday. Bienville also established "Fort Louis de la Louisiane" (which is now Mobile) in 1702. At the heart of it, Mardi Gras is also a Christian holiday traced to pagan spring and fertility rites dating back thousands of years that has become a popular cultural phenomenon worldwide. And although Mardi Gras is today most closely associated with New Orleans, Louisiana, it is observed in hundreds of cities in more than fifty countries. History of Mardi Gras 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 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. 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 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 When New Orleans embraced Mardi Gras parading in 1856, floats and costumed were borrowed from Mobile that first year. That would seem to make it a clear case that Mobile started Mardi Gras, at It depends on who you’re talking to and what you consider to be a "real celebration," but some historians will tell you that the Alabama celebration was actually known as Boeuf Gras– not Mardi Gras – and that early parades held in Mobile tended to take place around New Year's Day and on Aug. 25, the feast day of St. Louis. And wait till you hear the ingredient list: 4,000 pounds of Danish flour, 286 pounds of yeast, 428 dozen eggs, 1,178 pounds of water, 8.925 gallons of flavoring, 2,087 pounds of icing, 331 pounds News For local news story in the Mobile Alabama Bay Area, this is where you want to come. Things To Do; Mardi Gras This is for all things Mardi Gras related along the Gulf Coast. Local Businesses If you live in the Mobile, Alabama region and you’re looking for a certain type of business, this is the category for you. History of Mardi Gras. 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. Landing on the eve of Mardi Gras, he named the place “Pointe du Mardi Gras” as a means of honoring the holiday. This is seen as the first celebration of the holiday in the U.S. Evolution of Nonetheless, Mardi Gras became an annual tradition in Mobile (above).Parade crews began in the 1830s and party beads (gold for power, green for faith) were distributed in 1872. Mardi Gras (or “Fat Tuesday” as it translates in English) originated thousands of years ago as the final occasion to enjoy fatty foods and debauchery before giving up these pleasures for lent
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