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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 History and Traditions Learn about the famed celebration's cultural roots and traditions. Mardi Gras is so much more special when you understand what you’re celebrating and what each tradition means to the generations of parade-goers who have stood on parade routes before you. In 1872, the city of New Orleans was struggling through years of Reconstruction. To help the city and promote tourism, proclamations of Mardi Gras were posted at train stations throughout the country. Rex commanded his subjects to gather and celebrate Carnival in New Orleans. From there on, Mardi Gras became a sought-after tourist attraction. The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western Christian tradition). Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, the season is known as Carnival and The tradition in New Orleans expanded to the point that it became synonymous with the city in popular perception, and embraced by residents of New Orleans beyond those of French or Catholic heritage. Mardi Gras celebrations are part of the basis of the slogan Laissez les bons temps rouler ("Let the good times roll"), as floats "roll." Historical Origins of Mardi Gras in New Orleans. The origins of Mardi Gras in New Orleans can be traced back to the city’s French and Spanish colonial histories. In 1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Le Moyne Sieur de Bienville arrived at a plot of ground 60 miles south of New Orleans and named it “Pointe du Mardi Gras New Orleans is cranking up the volume for Mardi Gras 2025, and there’s excitement in the air for what is often hailed as the greatest free show on earth. This iconic festival, culminating on Tuesday, March 4, is deeply rooted in Christian and Roman Catholic traditions but has evolved into a secular celebration. New Orleans was established in 1718 by Bienville. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans, but not with the parades we know today. In the early 1740s, Louisiana's governor, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, established elegant society balls, which became the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today. Because the whole point of Mardi Gras is to enjoy life's excesses before Lent begins, Creole and Cajun dishes such as jambalaya, gumbo, and red beans and rice are a major part of the celebration. And Mardi Gras just wouldn’t be Mardi Gras without king cake, an oval pastry with a sugary icing in Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold. By the late 1830s, the notion of New Orleans Mardi Gras as a public celebration with broad appeal, as an amusing occasion for carrying on Old World tradition, was on the cusp of change. Revelers who would later become known as “promiscuous maskers,” for their irreverent and bawdy foolery, had begun to make their presence felt. Mardi Gras balls were exclusive events closed off from most people outside of New Orleans society until this krewe revolutionized the event. In 1949, Edward Brennan Sr. created the krewe, a carnival Ball open to tourists. 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 New Orleans’ French-Catholic heritage is behind the tradition. To make Mardi Gras a kid-friendly affair, New Orleans & Company suggests that families with pre-teens avoid the French Quarter Whenever we have a foolish urge to head to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, we do what most wise people would: have a Sazerac and wait it out. Judy Weitz: I just had to respond to your comments about Mardi Gras here in New Orleans. I am a fifth-generation New Orleanian with two children, and when they were nearing their teenage years, I actually Mardi Gras, a festival that came to the United States as a French Catholic tradition, is celebrated on March 1 this year. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday,” reflecting the practice of Mardi Gras is about music, parades, picnics, floats and excitement. It's one big holiday in New Orleans! Revelers know to wear costumes or at least dress in purple, green, and gold, and adorn themselves with long beads caught from the floats of previous parades. While one of the most famous Mardi Gras celebrations is in New Orleans, Louisiana, the holiday is celebrated across the globe, from North America, to South America, Europe and Asia. Also, Mardi Gras wasn’t really celebrated in a big way in the 1850s anyway because “hooliganism” had rained on the parades and the press had called for an end to the celebration. It wasn’t until Comus took to the parade route in 1857 that Mardi Gras as we know it really started to roll. Mardi Gras is always celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is the first day of Lent. The festival began in medieval Europe and was brought to North America by French settlers in the 17th century. Mardi Gras has become a tradition in New Orleans and is celebrated with parades, music, and parties. Mardi Gras is Carnival's grand finale and is the day that ends the festive season. What do the Mardi Gras colors represent? According to Mardi Gras New Orleans, the holiday's colors have a meaning
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