Mardi Gras!

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Lepplady

Chillin' since 2006
Nov 30, 2006
12,498
65,639
Red Stick
'Tis the season for Les Bontemps to Rouller!
We're warming up our bead-throwing arms, preparing to catch 'em with our faces, and King Cakes abound. It's not just a parade down here, it's the spirit of how people live in these parts.

I'll get the ball rolling with the first King Cake. The tradition has it that if you get the piece with the little plastic baby doll in it, you've got to bring the next one. ...And some beads. Maybe a little libation. Certainly some jazz. Most of all, just bring the joi de vivre. The joy of life, letting the good times roll, that's what it's all about.
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Spideyman

Uber Member
Jul 10, 2006
46,336
195,472
79
Just north of Duma Key
Is this just a Catholic thing or is there more to it?
ORIGINS OF MARDI GRAS
According to historians, Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, including the raucous Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia. When Christianity arrived in Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate these popular local traditions into the new faith, an easier task than abolishing them altogether.As a result, the excess and debauchery of the Mardi Gras season became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday.Along withChristianity, Mardi Gras spread from Rome to other European countries, including France, Germany, Spain and England.

Louisiana, just south of the holiday’s future epicenter: New Orleans. They held a small celebration and dubbed the spot Point du Mardi Gras. In the decades that followed, New Orleans and other French settlements began marking the holiday with street parties, masked balls and lavish dinners. When the Spanish took control of New Orleans, however, they abolished these rowdy rituals, and the bans remained in force until Louisiana became a U.S. state in 1812.

On Mardi Gras in 1827, a group of students donned colorful costumes and danced through the streets of New Orleans, emulating the revelry they’d observed while visiting Paris. Ten years later, the first recorded New Orleans Mardi Gras parade took place, a tradition that continues to this day. In 1857, a secret society of New Orleans businessmen called the Mistick Krewe of Comus organized a torch-lit Mardi Gras procession with marching bands and rolling floats, setting the tone for future public celebrations in the city. Since then, krewes have remained a fixture of the Carnival scene throughout Louisiana. Other lasting customs include throwing beads and other trinkets, wearing masks, decorating floats and eating King Cake.

Louisiana is the only state in which Mardi Gras is a legal holiday. However, elaborate carnival festivities draw crowds in other parts of the United States during the Mardi Gras season as well, including Alabama and Mississippi. Each region has its own events and traditions.

MARDI GRAS AROUND THE WORLD
Across the globe, pre-Lenten festivals continue to take place in many countries with significant Roman Catholic populations. Brazil’s weeklong Carnival festivities feature a vibrant amalgam of European, African and native traditions. In Canada, Quebec City hosts the giant Quebec Winter Carnival. In Italy, tourists flock to Venice’s Carnevale, which dates back to the 13th century and is famous for its masquerade balls. Known as Karneval, Fastnacht or Fasching, the German celebration includes parades, costume balls and a tradition that empowers women to cut off men’s ties. For Denmark’s Fastevlan, children dress up and gather candy in a similar manner to Halloween–although the parallel ends when they ritually flog their parents on Easter Sunday morning.

Mardi Gras History | Mardi Gras New Orleans
 

Lepplady

Chillin' since 2006
Nov 30, 2006
12,498
65,639
Red Stick
There's so much more to Mardi Gras than the tangibles. Sure, there are facts about the dates, parades and history. There’s a lot of fun in the whole boob-flashing sh*t-faced bead-throwing frenzy. But there's a spirit that saturates the region that you really have to live here to experience, not just at Mardi Gras but all the time.
But, yeah.
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