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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 Mobile's Mardi Gras may be small compared to New Orleans, but it does bring in a lot of revenue for the city. "The last major study conducted by the University of South Alabama's business school in 2012 and it was determined, in less than a month, carnival generated over $400 million from Mobile County," Blackwell said. The Argument for New Orleans. Those who believe New Orleans gets the crown say the first Mardi Gras took place on March 3, 1699, when French explorers Bienville and Iberville put down stakes on the west bank of the Mississippi River, about 60 miles downriver from the site of what would become the Crescent City. 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 Undoubtedly, New Orleans brings the crowd when it comes to celebrating Mardi Gras. Although Mobile's Mardi Gras may not get as much attention as New Orleans, their carnival is very sentimental to Despite what you might have heard, Mardi Gras didn't get its start in New Orleans. Mardi Gras actually began in Mobile, Alabama – a port city with close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, located 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. By the 1830s, Mardi Gras had spread to New Orleans as a parade and celebration that mirrored Mobile’s festival. Then in the 1870s, New Orleans surpassed Mobile as the king town of Mardi Gras. The Big Easy is almost synonymous with Mardi Gras, but some claim that Mobile, Alabama, hosted the first city-wide event. Whatever the case may be, processions of maskers with carriages and horseback riders were commonplace in New Orleans by the late 1830s. Some claim the earliest Mardi Gras celebration was in Mobile, Alabama, not New Orleans, but it depends on a few technicalities—and who's answering the question. If you thought Mardi Gras—that annual celebration that marks the last day before the Christian season of Lent—began in New Orleans, you’re clearly not from Alabama. 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 The last float in a Mardi Gras parade passes by a throng in Mobile, Ala., on Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. Alabama’s port city held a main event of its Carnival season, a quirky bash honoring the man Hardy, though, does not deny Mobile's influence on Mardi Gras in New Orleans. "There's no question that we owe them a lot," he said. Steve Joynt publishes Mobile Mask, an annual guide to Mobile's Mardi Gras celebration. The two cities' celebrations, he said, are inextricably intertwined. "Without New Orleans, there would be no Mobile Mardi Gras In the U.S., the origin of Mardi Gras is a somewhat debated topic. The city of Mobile claims that it was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras, dating back to 1703. Members and friends of the Societe de Saint Anne, parade through New Orleans neighborhoods on Mardi Gras, February 28, 2017. The Society was founded in 1969. In the U.S., the origin of Mardi Gras is a somewhat debated topic. The city of Mobile claims that it was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras, dating back to 1703. In the U.S., the origin of Mardi Gras is a somewhat debated topic. The city of Mobile claims that it was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras, dating back to 1703. In the U.S., the origin of Mardi Gras is a somewhat debated topic. The city of Mobile claims that it was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras, dating back to 1703. In the U.S., the origin of Mardi Gras is a somewhat debated topic. The city of Mobile claims that it was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras, dating back to 1703. In the U.S., the origin of Mardi Gras is a somewhat debated topic. The city of Mobile claims that it was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras, dating back to 1703.
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