This article is about the carnival. For other uses, see API (disambiguation).

Mardi Gras (Also known as Shrove Tuesday and Fat Tuesday)
Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, USA
Type | Christian, cultural
Significance | Celebration prior to fasting season of Lent.
Celebrations | Parades, parties
2012 date | February 21
2013 date | February 12
2014 date | March 4
2015 date | February 17
Related to | Carnival, Shrove Monday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Maslenitsa

"Mardi Gras" (/[unsupported input]ʔ m[unsupported input]d i ʔ r[unsupported input]/), "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season",[1][2][3][4][5] in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The day is sometimes referred to as Shrove Tuesday, from the word shrive, meaning "confess."[6] Related popular practices are associated with celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent.

## Traditions[edit]

Popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc. Similar expressions to Mardi Gras appear in other European languages sharing the Christian tradition, as it is associated with the religious requirement for confession before Lent begins.

In many areas, the term "Mardi Gras" has come to mean the whole period of activity related to the celebratory events, beyond just the single day. In some US cities, it is now called "Mardi Gras Day" or "Fat Tuesday".[1][2][3][4][5] The festival season varies from city to city, as some traditions consider Mardi Gras the entire period between Epiphany or Twelfth Night and Ash Wednesday.[7] Others treat the final three-day period before Ash Wednesday as the Mardi Gras.[8] In Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras-associated social events begin in November, followed by mystic society balls on Thanksgiving,[7][9] then New Year's Eve, followed by parades and balls in January and February, celebrating up to midnight before Ash Wednesday. In earlier times parades were held on New Year's Day.[7] Other cities famous for Mardi Gras celebrations include Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Barranquilla, Colombia; Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago; Quebec City, Canada; Mazatl?n, Sinaloa, Mexico; and New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

Carnival is an important celebration in Anglican and Catholic European nations.[6] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the week before Ash Wednesday is called "shrovetide", ending on Shrove Tuesday. It has its popular celebratory aspects as well. Pancakes are a traditional food. Pancakes and related fried breads or pastries made with sugar, fat and eggs are also traditionally consumed at this time in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mardi Gras in Dakar, Senegal
Mardi Gras in Marseille, France
Mardi Gras in Binche, Belgium

## Belgium[edit]

In the Belgian city of Binche the Mardi Gras festival is the most important day of the year and the summit of the Carnival of Binche. Around 1000 Gilles dance throughout the city from morning until past dusk, whilst traditional carnival songs play. In 2003, the "Carnival of Binche" was proclaimed one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

## Brazil[edit]

Main article: Brazilian Carnival

Carnaval is the most famous Brazilian holiday. During this time period Brazil attracts 70% of its tourists. Variations in carnaval celebrations are observed throughout the multitude of Brazilian cities. Yet, a commonality observed among them is the incorporation of samba into the celebrations. The southeastern cities of Brazil have massive parades that take place in large sambadromes. The largest carnaval celebration in Brazil and the world occurs in Rio de Janeiro, where two million people are found celebrating in the city. The city of Salvador also holds a large carnaval celebration.

## Germany[edit]

The celebration of Mardi Gras in Germany is called Karneval, Fastnacht, or Fasching.[10] Fastnacht means "Eve of the Beginning of the Fast", and is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday.

The most famous parades are held in Cologne, Mainz, and D?sseldorf on the Monday before Ash Wednesday, called Rosenmontag.

## Italy[edit]

In Italy Mardi Gras is not the main day of Carnival, since the Carnival lasts four more days, ending on the Saturday after Ash Wednesday, because of the Ambrosian rite. The last day of Carnival, therefore, is the "Sabato grasso" (Shrove or Fat Saturday).

Italy is the birthplace of Carnival celebrations, having its origins in the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia. The Italian version of the festival is spelled Carnevale.[11]

## Netherlands[edit]

The Netherlands also has a festival similar to Mardi Gras. It's called Carnaval and is similar to the Venice Carnival. The origin of the word Carnaval is 'Carne Vale' which means Goodbye to the meat in Latin. It marks the beginning of the sacred period that leads to Easter.

The real festival is held in the southern part of the Netherlands in the provinces of Noord-Brabant and Limburg, and in eastern parts of Twente and Groningen.

## Sweden[edit]

In Sweden the celebration is called Fettisdagen. It comes from the word "fett" (fat) and "tisdag" (Tuesday). Originally, this was the only day one should eat semlor.[12] These are now sold in most grocery stores and bakeries preceding the holiday, and up until Easter.

## United States[edit]

Mardi Gras 2010 celebrants in the French Quarter of New Orleans, in the traditional colors of purple, green, and gold
See also: Mardi Gras in the United States, Mardi Gras in Mobile, and New Orleans Mardi Gras

While not observed nationally throughout the United States, a number of traditionally ethnic French cities and regions in the country have notable celebrations. Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers,[13] 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.[13]

The expedition, led by Iberville, entered the mouth of the Mississippi River on the evening of March 2, 1699, Lundi Gras. They did not yet know it was the river explored and claimed for France by Ren?-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1683. The party proceeded upstream to a place on the west bank about 60 miles downriver from where New Orleans is today, and made camp. This was on March 3, 1699, Mardi Gras, so in honor of this holiday, Iberville named the spot Point du Mardi Gras (French: "Mardi Gras Point") and called the nearby tributary Bayou Mardi Gras. Bienville went on to found the settlement of Mobile, Alabama in 1702 as the first capital of French Louisiana.[14] In 1703 French settlers in Mobile established the first organized Mardi Gras celebration tradition in what was to become the United States.[15][13][16][17] The first informal mystic society, or krewe, was formed in Mobile in 1711, the Boeuf Gras Society.[15] By 1720, Biloxi had been made capital of Louisiana. The French Mardi Gras customs had accompanied the colonists who settled there.[13]

Knights of Revelry parade down Royal Street in Mobile during the 2010 Mardi Gras season.

In 1723, the capital of Louisiana was moved to New Orleans, founded in 1718.[14] Mobile's Cowbellion de Rakin Society was the first formally organized and masked mystic society in the United States to celebrate with a parade in 1830.[15] The idea of mystic societies was exported to New Orleans in 1856 when six businessmen, three who were formerly of Mobile, gathered at a club room in New Orlean's French Quarter to organize a secret society, inspired by the Cowbellion de Rakin Society, that would observe Mardi Gras with a formal parade. They founded New Orleans' first and oldest krewe, the Mistick Krewe of Comus.[18] 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) and the nickname "Big Easy".[13] Other cities along the Gulf Coast with early French colonial heritage, from Pensacola, Florida to Lafayette, Louisiana, have active Mardi Gras celebrations. In the rural Acadiana area, many Cajuns celebrate with the Courir de Mardi Gras, a tradition that dates to medieval celebrations in France.[19]

In the last decade of the 20th century, the rise in producing commercial videotapes catering to voyeurs helped encourage a tradition of women baring breasts in exchange for beads and trinkets.[20] This is practiced only in very small fragments of where Mardi Gras is celebrated, mostly by visitors rather than locals.

## See also[edit]

- Carnaval de Ponce
- Joie de vivre
- Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b In London, Mardi Gras season: "Paul's Pastry Shop kneads a ton of dough in Picayune", Allbusiness.com, 2008, webpage: Allbusiness-35.
2. ^ a b In New Orleans, Mardi Gras season: "Mardi Gras in New Orleans | Metro.co.uk", Metro.co.uk, 2009, webpage: Metro.co.uk-2315.
3. ^ a b In Mobile, Mardi Gras season: "New Orleans has competition for Mardi Gras", USATODAY.com, February 2006, webpage: USATODAY-com-mardi.
4. ^ a b In San Diego, Mardi Gras season: "sandiego.com - Mardi Gras in San Diego: FAQ's", SanDiego.com, 2008, webpage: SanDiego.com-SD.
5. ^ a b In Texas, Mardi Gras season: "Let?s Celebrate: Mardi Gras 2008", Southernbyways.com, January 2008, webpage: southernbyways-com-TX.
6. ^ a b Melitta Weiss Adamson, Francine Segan (2008). Mardi Grashl=enei=8am8Tp_PCqPg0QH0t5y-BAsa=Xoi=book_resultct=resultresnum=1ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepageq=Anglican Mardi Grasf=false Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl. ABC-CLIO. "In Anglican countries, Mardis Gras is known as Shrove Tuesday-from shrive meaning "confess"-or Pancake Day"-after the breakfast food that symbolizes one final hearty meal of eggs, butter, and sugar before the fast. On Ash Wednesday, the morning after Mardi Gras, repentant Christians return to church to receive upon the forehead the sign of the cross in ashes."
7. ^ a b c "Mardi Gras Terminology". "Mobile Bay Convention Visitors Bureau". Retrieved November 18, 2007.
8. ^ "The Season of Lent". Crivoice.org. January 7, 2010. Retrieved October 16, 2010.
9. ^ "Mobile Carnival Association, 1927", MardiGrasDigest.com, 2006, webpage: mardigrasdigest-Mobile.
10. ^ [1][dead link]
11. ^ "History of Carnival". All Ah We. Retrieved 3 Oct 2012.
12. ^ "Swedish semla: more than just a bun". Sweden.se. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
13. ^ a b c d e "New Orleans Mardi Gras History Timeline" (event list), Mardi Gras Digest, 2005, webpage: MG-time.
14. ^ a b "Timeline 18th Century:" (events), Timelines of History, 2007, webpage: TLine-1700-1724: on "1702-1711" of Mobile.
15. ^ a b c "Carnival/Mobile Mardi Gras Timeline". Museum of Mobile. Museum of Mobile. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
16. ^ "Mardi Gras in Mobile" (history), Jeff Sessions, Senator, Library of Congress, 2006, webpage: LibCongress-2665.
17. ^ "Mardi Gras" (history), Mobile Bay Convention Visitors Bureau, 2007, webpage: MGmobile.
18. ^ Arthur B. LaCour, New Orleans Masquerade: Chronicles of Carnival (Pelican Publishing 1952)
19. ^ "Mardi Gras in Rural Acadiana". Retrieved February 18, 2010.
20. ^ Shrum, W. and J. Kilburn. <423:RDAMGC>2.0.CO;2-2 "Ritual Disrobement at Mardi Gras: Ceremonial Exchange and Moral Order". Social Forces, Vol. 75, No. 2. (Dec., 1996), pp. 423-458.

## External links[edit]

| Wikimedia Commons has media related to API.

- Traditional Cajun Mardi Gras Celebrations
- Mardi Gras in Mobile, Encyclopedia of Alabama
- Prof. Carl Nivale's Compleat Carnival Compendium and Mardi Gras Manual
- Mardi Gras 2009 celebration photos
- Where to Celebrate Mardi Gras Around the World - slideshow by The Guardian
- gras/order/nosort Fashion plates featuring historic Mardi Gras costumes from the Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries

Holidays, observances, and celebrations in the United States
January | New Year's Day (Federal) Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (Federal) Confederate Heroes Day (TX) Idaho Human Rights Day (ID) Lee–Jackson Day (formerly Lee–Jackson–King Day) (VA) Robert E. Lee Day (FL, GA) Stephen Foster Memorial Day (36) Chinese New Year (Week, also in February)
February | Valentine's Day (Religious) Washington's Birthday (Federal, also known as "Presidents' Day") Georgia Day (GA) Lincoln's Birthday (CA, CT, IL, IN, MO, NJ, NY, WV) Mardi Gras (FL, LA, Religious) Primary Election Day (WI) Ronald Reagan Day (CA) Rosa Parks Day (CA, OH) Susan B. Anthony Day (FL, WI, WV) National Freedom Day (36) Ash Wednesday (Religious) Courir de Mardi Gras (Religious) Four Chaplains Day Groundhog Day American Heart Month Black History Month
March | Easter (Religious, sometimes in April) Saint Patrick's Day Spring break (Week) Good Friday (CT, NC, PR, Religious, sometimes in April) Holi (Religious) Pi Day Casimir Pulaski Day (IL) Cesar Chavez Day (CA, CO, TX) Evacuation Day (MA) Mardi Gras (FL, LA) Maryland Day (MD) Passover (Religious, sometimes in April) Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalanianaole Day (HI) Seward's Day (AK) Texas Independence Day (TX) Town Meeting Day (VT) Ash Wednesday (Religious) Courir de Mardi Gras (Religious) Easter Monday (Religious) Palm Sunday (Religious, Week, sometimes in April) Saint Joseph's Day (Religious) Women's History Month National Poison Prevention Week (Week)
April | Easter (Religious, sometimes in March) April Fool's Day Arbor Day Confederate Memorial Day (AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC) Emancipation Day (DC) Jefferson's Birthday (AL) Pascua Florida Day (FL) Patriots' Day (MA, ME) San Jacinto Day (TX) Mahavir Jayanti (Religious) Earth Day 420 Day Record Store Day Walpurgis Night Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust (Week) Confederate History Month (Month)
May | Memorial Day (Federal) Mother's Day (36) Cinco de Mayo Harvey Milk Day (CA) Truman Day (MO) Malcolm X Day (Berkeley, CA) Law Day (36) Loyalty Day (36) National Day of Prayer (36) National Defense Transportation Day (36) National Maritime Day (36) Peace Officers Memorial Day (36) Military Spouse Day May Day Free Comic Book Day Walpurgis Night Asian Pacific American Heritage Month (Month) Jewish American Heritage Month (Month)
June | Father's Day (36) Flag Day (FL, PA) Odunde Festival (Philadelphia, PA) Emancipation Day In Texas / Juneteenth (TX) Helen Keller Day (PA) Jefferson Davis Day (AL, FL) Kamehameha Day (HI) West Virginia Day (WV) National Doughnut Day Honor America Days (Week) Senior Week (Week) Gay and Lesbian Pride Month (Month)
July | Independence Day (Federal) Pioneer Day (UT) Parents' Day (36) Ramadan (Religious, Month) Honor America Days (Week) National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day (36)
August | Bennington Battle Day (VT) Hawaii Admission Day / Statehood Day (HI) Lyndon Baines Johnson Day (TX) Service Reduction Day (MD) Victory over Japan Day (RI) National Aviation Day (36) Women's Equality Day (36)
September | Labor Day (Federal) Rosh Hashanah (Religious) Yom Kippur (Religious) Native American Day (CA) Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day (36) Constitution Day (36) Gold Star Mothers Day (36) National Grandparents Day (36) Patriot Day (36) Constitution Week (Week) National Payroll Week (Week) National Hispanic Heritage Month (Month)
October | Halloween Columbus Day (Federal) Alaska Day (AK) Missouri Day (MO) Native American Day (SD) Nevada Day (NV) Child Health Day (36) Leif Erikson Day (36) White Cane Safety Day (36) Diwali (Religious) Yom Kippur (Religious) General Pulaski Memorial Day Sweetest Day National School Lunch Week (Week) Filipino American History Month (Month) LGBT History Month (Month) National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (Month) National Disability Employment Awareness Month (Month) National Hispanic Heritage Month (Month) Gandhi Day
November | Thanksgiving (Federal) Day after Thanksgiving (DE) Veterans Day (Federal) Election Day (CA, DE, HI, KY, MT, NJ, NY, OH, PR, WV) Family Day (NV) Native American Heritage Day (MD) Obama Day (Perry County, AL) Diwali (Religious) Hanukkah (Religious)
December | Christmas (Religious, Federal) Kwanzaa (Religious, Week) Christmas Eve (KY, NC) New Year's Eve Hanukkah (Religious, Week) Alabama Day (AL) Indiana Day (IN) New Year's Eve (KY) Rosa Parks Day (CA, OH) National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (36) Pan American Aviation Day (36) Wright Brothers Day (36) Festivus
Legend: (Federal) = Federal holidays, (State) = State holidays, (Religious) = Religious holidays, (Week) = Weeklong holidays, (Month) = Monthlong holidays, (36) = Title 36 Observances and Ceremonies Bolded text indicates major holidays that are commonly celebrated by Americans, which often represents the major celebration of the month.[2][3] See also: Lists of holidays, Hallmark holiday, Public holidays in the United States, Public holidays in Puerto Rico, and Public holidays in the United States Virgin Islands