Mardi Gras in New Orleans is
probably the most famous Carnival in the world.
To native New Orleanians, Mardi Gras
refers to the entire New Orleans Carnival season which begins on
January 6th (Twelfth Night) and continues through to Ash Wednesday.
The celebrations which consist of parades, balls and king cake
parties, end the day before Ash Wednesday on Fat Tuesday. Most
outsiders consider Fat Tuesday to be Mardi Gras and celebrations of
the Mardi Gras season are tied to preparations for the season of
Lent.
Most of the parades and events occur
within the last two weeks of Mardi Gras and really large parades
and activities occur during the last few days. The larger, major
parades start in the Uptown and Mid-City districts and follow a
route along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street.
The parades are organized by
carnival krewes, which are organizations that put on a parade or
ball. Float riders in the parades toss out "throws" to the crowds,
which are usually strings of beads, trinkets cheap toys or
doubloons. Doubloons are small dollar sized coins with the krewes
logo.
Many families attend Mardi Gras to
enjoy its various parades and events. The image of women flashing
themselves and highly intoxicated people stumbling about usually
occurs in the Bourbon Street area, where it is tolerated to a
certain extend as long as it doesn't cause a public disturbance or
fighting. If you have a family with youngsters it is probably best
to avoid this area at times. Outside of this area, lewd behavior is
not accepted and will usually result in a quick arrest.
Promptly at the stroke
of midnight at the end of Fat Tuesday, a mounted squad of New
Orleans police officers make a show of clearing upper Bourbon
Street where the bulk of out-of-town revelers congregate,
announcing that Mardi Gras is over, as it is the start of
Lent.
Louisiana style King Cake: A
cinnamon-roll like cake inside with sugary icing with traditional
Mardi Gras colored sprinkles on the outside. Photo courtesy of
Wikipedia.
