Gallery
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
:focal(1774x1318:1775x1319)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer_public/2f/cd/2fcd3f01-ac5a-4702-9323-a8fd6a2694d6/super_sunday.jpg "what year did new orleans have its first mardi gras parade") |  |
 |  |
 |  |
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 4: When was the first Mardi Gras? The first Mardi Gras parade was held in New Orleans on Feb. 24, 1857 by the Krewe of Comus. They began the tradition of presenting a parade with floats and following it with a ball for the krewe and their guests. Mardi Gras Dates. 5: What is the significance of the Mardi Gras colors, and where did they come from? In 1856, 21 businessmen gathered at a club room in the French Quarter to organize a secret society to observe Mardi Gras with a formal parade. They founded New Orleans' first and oldest krewe, the Mistick Krewe of Comus. According to one historian, "Comus was aggressively English in its celebration of what New Orleans had always considered a 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 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. From this corner on February 24, 1857, the Mistick Krewe of Comus began its first parade, heading up Julia Street toward St. Charles Avenue. With that parade, Mardi Gras was solidified as a New Orleans tradition that ultimately influenced Carnival celebrations throughout the continent. This marker, installed on the corner of the building at Magazine and Julia Streets, indicates the starting point of the first Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, which took place on February 24, 1857. The Mistick Krewe of Comus led the parade, which went west on Julia Street. From this point forward, Mardi Gras parades would become a cherished New Orleans tradition. Mardi Gras parades would soon 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. 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 The first Mardi Gras celebrations are held in New Orleans, Louisiana. New Orleans held its Mardi Gras celebrations despite the fact that Hurricane Katrina had devastated much of the city with We have an all-in-one Mardi Gras guide with additional details about the celebration year-to-year, but we’ve created this guide as your go-to resource specifically for planning Mardi Gras 2025. From this year’s key parade and event dates to updated safety info and local insights, we’ve got you covered. Mardi Gras may be best known for the massive celebrations in New Orleans and Mobile, but in Pensacola, the annual festival has grown into a unique and vibrant tradition of its own. The first Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans were small and subdued, with the explorers calling their newly claimed territory Point du Mardi Gras. The tradition grew in popularity over time, and by the early 1800s, it had spread to all 50 states. While the Krewe of Symphony held its first ball in 2008, it was re-established in 2020 with a vision to host its first Mardi Gras parade in Jefferson Parish. This all-male social and pleasure club’s goal is “to come together like a symphony to form Mardi Gras's most memorable experiences.” 4: When was the first Mardi Gras? The first Mardi Gras parade was held in New Orleans on Feb. 24, 1857 by the Krewe of Comus. They began the tradition of presenting a parade with floats and following it with a ball for the krewe and their guests. Mardi Gras Dates. 5: What is the significance of the Mardi Gras colors, and where did they come from? The groups are called in Mobile Mystic Societies. In New Orleans, they're called Krewes," Cart Blackwell, curator of the Mobile Carnival Museum, told USA TODAY. "On New Year's Eve going into 1830, a group of men in Mobile staged an impromptu parade. The very next year, they did a parade with floats." Brave Women with Beads “It’s undignified, women riding on floats. They do not belong.” – Man at the first Venus parade in 1941. On February 23, 1941, the 125-member Krewe of Venus – the first female parading organization in New Orleans history – took to the streets on a dozen floats rented from the Knights of Babylon. The first use of the words "Mardi Gras" in Louisiana was in 1699, when Pierre le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, named a bend in the river "Pointe du Mardi Gras," in honor of that year's Fat Tuesday. However, Carnival was rarely celebrated in the new colony—the early people of the Big Easy found life in the mud-caked huts and thatched roofs of New 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). Mardi Gras Doubloon Learn more about this iconic parade throw. What makes New Orleans Mardi Gras parades unique from— and much more fun than—parades across the country is simple: active crowd participation.
Articles and news, personal stories, interviews with experts.
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |