Mardi Gras in the United States

The term Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" in French. According to some historians, the name originated from the tradition of feasting from a fattened calf on this holiday. It is also known in the Catholic calendar as Shrove Tuesday, from an old term meaning "to hear confession" before the forty day period of Lenten fasting. The tradition probably originated in pre-Christian seasonal celebrations. Some scholars believe the festival is related to the lunar calendar, celebrating special days in which it was not obligatory to obey rules. Other scholars identify it as a late-winter celebration. The early Romans already observed a forty day fast, preceded by a brief season of merrymaking and revelry. Mardi Gras is the last in a series of celebrations that are part of Carnival, the festive pre-Lenten season, which begins with the Epiphany on January 6—also known as Theophany, Three Kings’ Day, and Twelfth Night—twelve days after Christmas.

Brief History

Mardi Gras is a very popular holiday in cultures that celebrate it. This holiday is important in Europe, where large events marking Mardi Gras are held in Nice, France; Cologne, Germany; and Venice, Italy among other places. Mardi Gras and Carnival are also celebrated in Latin American cities like Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The most renowned Carnival celebration in the United States is Mardi Gras in New Orleans and other French communities along the Gulf Coast. Mardi Gras ends the revelries of the Carnival season and ushers in the solemnity of the Lenten season, a time in which Roman Catholics around the world sacrifice and fast.

Mardi Gras was brought to America by French explorers in the late seventeenth century. In time, the French colonials in New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras with masked balls. But during the time the Spanish Crown took over the colony in the eighteenth century, such celebrations were banned. The land returned to French control in 1800. However, the ban continued for a while even after the US government acquired the land from France in 1803. The celebration of Mardi Gras was allowed to resume in 1827, with masked balls and public revelry.

The official colors of Mardi Gras were formally established a decade later: purple for justice, gold for power, and green for faith. Because the roots of Mardi Gras are deeply Catholic, its symbolism is tied to the Church. Epiphany—which kicks off the Carnival celebrations—is when celebrants bake and serve a King’ Cake, a custom that originated in twelfth-century France. In the tradition’s early days, a coin or bean was baked inside the cake, and whoever found it was believed to have good luck in the coming year. Today, in Louisiana and other regions, bakers place a minuscule doll baby, representing the Christ Child inside the cake. In Louisiana, the person who finds the doll is expected to host a King Cake party the following year.

Many other Southern communities along the Gulf Coast celebrate Mardi Gras. Acadiana, a region of southern Louisiana with a large Francophone-descendant community; Biloxi, Mississippi; Galveston, Texas; Mobile, Alabama; and Pensacola, Florida, all hold notable Mardi Gras celebrations.

Mardi Gras Today

Mardi Gras is celebrated in different ways among the Catholic and Francophone communities of Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. The Courir de Mardi Gras, for example, is celebrated in the rural areas of southern Louisiana, where people of French heritage have a long-established tradition of horsemanship. This form of Mardi Gras involves costumed groups on horseback and wagons who make a circuit of farms and other places, inviting locals to a communal meal to be enjoyed at the end of the day. Participants dance and are accompanied by a band playing traditional Mardi Gras music. Other towns in the region host well-known Mardi Gras celebrations as well. Lafayette, Louisiana, hosts the second-largest Mardi Gras festival in the state, and its ball and parade date back to 1869. Many, however, primarily identify Mardi Gras in the United States with New Orleans. The Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans are not only important socially, but also economically. The celebration lasts from Twelfth Night or Epiphany (January 6) to Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.

Celebrations in the early days of the Carnival season in New Orleans are mostly limited to private parties and balls. As the season advances, however, the events become public and parades with their spectacular floats become the focus of the season. Masking, or costume-wearing, is also very popular. On Mardi Gras day, crowds of costumed people fill the streets, especially in the French Quarter and Bourbon Street areas.

New Orleans Mardi Gras parades are very elaborate, featuring lavish floats designed according to a parade theme. They carry masked riders who belong to membership organizations called krewes. Each krewe sponsors a parade. Night parades feature impressive lighted floats and often include flambeaux carriers or torchbearers. Krewes have a king and queen who ride their own float. Float riders toss strings of beads, doubloons, and other Mardi Gras tokens to the crowds. These trinkets are avidly sought by celebration attendees. Parades began in New Orleans very early in its history, although the current organization and style dates back to the 1850s. At that time, the first krewe, Comus, was formed, and organized more orderly Mardi Gras events. In time, more krewes were created, and the festival grew as the years passed. Today, organizing a parade and other related activities is so complex that krewe members work on the event year round. A great number of artists and artisans are employed in float building and decoration.

Another important Mardi Gras tradition is that of the Mardi Gras Indians. In response to historical exclusion from the mainstream Mardi Gras activities, the Black communities of New Orleans developed their own krewes. Forming krewes with floats was an expensive endeavor that many could not afford. African Americans named their krewes after Indian tribes to pay respect to Native Americans, who often helped them escape from slavery. The traditional hand-beaded and embroidered costumes they wear during Mardi Gras are today famous worldwide.

Neither Carnival nor Mardi Gras are an official holiday in the United States. However, an increasing number of cities have joined the tradition of celebrating Mardi Gras across the nation.

Bibliography

Gaudet, Marcia, and James McDonald eds. Mardi Gras, Gumbo and Zydeco: Readings in Louisiana Culture. Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 2003. Print.

Gibbens, Sarah, and McKeever, Amy. "Top 10 Things to Know About Mardi Gras." National Geographic, 5 Feb. 2024, www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/mardi-gras-fat-tuesday-origins-traditions. Accessed 24 Jan. 2025.

Kinser, Samuel, and Norman Magden. Carnival American Style: Mardi Gras at New Orleans and Mobile. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1991. Print.

Laborde, Errol and Mitchel Osborne. Mardi Gras: Chronicles of the New Orleans Carnival. New Orleans: Pelican, 2013. Print.

O’Neill, Rosary. New Orleans Carnival Krewes: The History, Spirit and Secrets of Mardi Gras. Charleston: History, 2014. Print,

Schindler, Henri. Mardi Gras New Orleans. Paris: Flammarion, 1997. Print.

Schindler, Henri. Mardi Gras Treasures: Costume Designs of the Golden Age. New Orleans: Pelican, 2002. Print.

Vaz, Kim Marie. The Baby Dolls: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State UP, 2013. Print.

Wall, Bennet H., John C. Rodrigue, Light Townsend Cummings, and Judith Kelleher Schafer. Louisiana: A History. Hoboken: Wiley, 2014. Print.

White, Sophie. Wild Frenchmen and Frenchified Indians: Material Culture and Race in Colonial Louisiana. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 2013. Digital file.