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Mardi Gras (UK: / ˌ m ɑːr d i ˈ ɡ r ɑː /, US: / ˈ m ɑːr d i ɡ r ɑː /; [1] [2] also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. [3]
The devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005, caused a few people to question the future of the city's Mardi Gras celebrations. Mayor Nagin, who was up for reelection in early 2006, tried to play this sentiment for electoral advantage [citation needed]. However, the economics of Carnival were, and are, too important to the ...
Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a sedate French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, [3] 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.
Mardi Gras Indians at Algiers Riverfest New Orleans 2009 showing their beadwork. Mardi Gras Indians (also known as Black Masking Indians) are African American carnival revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana, who dress up for Mardi Gras in suits influenced by the cultural practices of Native Americans, West Africans, [1] and Afro-Caribbeans.
Carnival celebrations, usually referred to as Mardi Gras ("Fat Tuesday" in French), were first celebrated in the Gulf Coast area, but now occur in many states. [129] Customs originated in the onetime French colonial capitals of Mobile (now in Alabama ), New Orleans ( Louisiana ), and Biloxi ( Mississippi ), all of which have celebrated for many ...
The Courir de Mardi Gras (Louisiana French pronunciation: [kuɾiɾ d maɾdi ɡɾa], French pronunciation: [kuʁiʁ də maʁdi ɡʁa]) is a traditional Mardi Gras event held in many Cajun and Creole communities of French Louisiana on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Courir de Mardi Gras is Louisiana French for "Fat Tuesday Run".
The term is best known for its association with Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, but is also used in other Carnival celebrations throughout Louisiana (e.g. in Lafayette, Shreveport, and Baton Rouge) and along the Gulf of Mexico, such as the Gasparilla Pirate Festival in Tampa, Florida, Springtime Tallahassee, and Krewe of Amalee in ...
Both free and enslaved people in the French territory of Louisiana were recorded as having celebrated Mardi Gras as early as 1732. [9] [10] Balls were a prominent aspect of these early Mardi Gras celebrations; then governor of Louisiana, Pierre de Rigaud, marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial, held several in his home that set the stage for future upper-class celebrations. [11]