Go to New Orleans after Mardi Gras. Trust us. Travel Guides 4-Day Weekends Adventure National Parks Travel Tips Outdoors. Gear. Fitness Outdoor Auto Gear of the Week Gift Guides. Health & Fitness. Home to America’s most colorful street performers in tandem with a 24-hour party scene, it only takes a few steps off Bourbon Street to realize NOLA’s nightly pulse reaches well beyond Mardi Gras. From evening cafés to historic parks, here are the best things to see in New Orleans without trying too hard. Photo Credit: Audubon Park Facebook The day after Mardi Gras is very quiet. We love being in New Orleans for the craziness of Mardi Gras and then experiencing the complete opposite on Ash Wednesday when the city is very quiet - it is interesting to see the contrast. Webber, a New Orleans native, said Mardi Gras isn’t just a party but a cultural celebration in Louisiana. Mardi Gras allows people to celebrate before the Lenten season, where people become more Laissez les bon temps rouler! New Orleans is always great to visit but Mardi Gras season is special! Make sure to catch the Endymion and Bacchus parades, and the Zulu parade on Mardi Gras day. If you want to hear some great music stop by Snug Harbor, the Jazz Market and Preservation Hall! - Adonis Rose Executive Director of the NOCCA Foundation It always runs until Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent. Fat Tuesday 2024 falls on Feb. 13. Is it better to go to New Orleans before or after Mardi Gras? The season, which represents a time of celebration before Christian Lent, lasts until Fat Tuesday. Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras Day, is March 4, 2025. Between January 6 and March 4, enjoy parades, king cake, community celebrations, and more. For a list of future Mardi Gras Day dates, see here. Where in New Orleans can I experience Mardi Gras? To get the full experience on Mardi Gras Day, you can get up in the early morning hours to catch the Mardi Gras Indians, the Jefferson City Buzzards Marching Krewe or Pete Fountain’s Half-Fast Big Chief Demond Melancon hand beading a part of his Mardi Gras Indian suit. (C)2019 GILES CLEMENT/DEMOND MELANCON. In 2008, after Hurricane Katrina’s devastation, Melancon returned to masking. Mardi Gras revelers greet a float from the Zulu parade at the corner of St. Charles and Canal Streets in New Orleans, La., on Mardi Gras day Tuesday, Feb. 11, 1997. (AP Photo/Andrew J. Cohoon) Share When to Visit for Mardi Gras in New Orleans. You can visit any time during Carnival (between January 6th and March 4th, 2025) to experience parades and festivities. But the most popular time to book a stay includes the final weekend leading up to Mardi Gras Day (Fat Tuesday). This year, those dates will be around February 26th – March 4, 2025. The first Mardi Gras celebration in the U.S. took place in 1699, but celebrations were temporarily banned when Spain took control of New Orleans. Mardi Gras is celebrated annually, with the When is Mardi Gras 2025? This year, Mardi Gras, which translates from French to "Fat Tuesday," is on March 4. Ash Wednesday is on March 5, the day marking the start of the 40-day Lenten season The first Mardi Gras parade was held in New Orleans by the Krewe of Comus in 1857, and in 1870, Mardi Gras’ second Krewe, the Twelfth Night Revelers, began tossing “throws” (more on these iconic parts of Mardi Gras later). New Orleans Mardi Gras: 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. By the 1730s, Mardi Gras was celebrated openly in New Orleans, but not The New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian Council always has their Indian Sunday on the third Sunday of March, around St. Joseph's Day. Their festivities begin at Noon in A. L. Davis Park (at Washington & LaSalle Streets) where the Mardi Gras Indians once again dress in their feathers and suits, and take to the streets to meet other "gangs." Each Mardi Gras Parade has a unique history and theme. Mande Kings Day 3:00pm view map ; Saturday Jan 11 2025 Uptown New Orleans; Fashion created from the FEMA-blue tarps used to during Mardi Gras in New Orleans in 2006, the first after Hurricane Katrina. (Photo by Tyrone Turner and Susan Sterner) That Mardi Gras happened at all in 2006 felt like an incredible feat. A mere six months before, New Orleans had suffered one of the 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. Al Roker, Craig Melvin and Dylan Dreyer are down in the Big Easy to celebrate Mardi Gras and hold a special Taste of New Orleans event with TODAY Food. (Sponsored by New Orleans & Company) IE 11
Articles and news, personal stories, interviews with experts.
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
![]() | |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |
![]() | ![]() |