HOLIDAY PROFILE
Mardi Gras
It’s Carnival time! Have a ball with costumes, king cake, Louisiana cuisine, and New Orleans music. Culminating on Mardi Gras (French for “Fat Tuesday”), Carnival is a time to eat, drink and be merry. “Laissez les bon temps rouler!” (“Let the good times roll!” in Cajun French).
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MARDI GRAS
Hang on tight, this gets complicated. The date of Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday”, is determined by the date of Easter, which is the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Spring Equinox. Mardi Gras always falls 47 days before Easter (in the Western church calendar) – the 40 days of Lent plus seven Sundays.
In 2023, Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday is on February 21.
Celebrate on Fat Tuesday itself, the weekend before Fat Tuesday, or any time between Epiphany (January 6th) and Fat Tuesday!
Ways to Celebrate
Here are some ideas for how you can celebrate Mardi Gras.
Eat and Drink New Orleans Style
Even if you don’t do up a big ball Mardi Gras you can still celebrate at home with Louisiana-style cuisine and New Orleans-style drinks. Here are some ideas for your menu:
- Feeling adventurous? Try gumbo, jambalaya, muffulettas, étouffée, po’ boys, hush puppies, crab cakes, or boudin
- Wanna keep it simpler? Do up some Red beans and rice, shrimp and grits, shrimp dip, cajun mac and cheese, crackers and cajun dip, or okra
- Super simple? Get some Zapp’s Voodoo chips, chips and dip, or snack mix
- Dessert? King Cake, pralines, beignets, or bananas foster
- Drinks? Alcohol-free: sweet tea, punch; cocktails: the Sazerac or the Hurricane
Throw a Party
Go big and do a Mardi Gras party! Ask friends to make dishes that are unique to your theme, or order food from a restaurant that specializes in that kind of food, or purchase pre-made food. Have a friend that might really enjoy bartending? Ask them if they’d tend for your party. Or make food and drink stations. Make sure to throw on some New Orleans music! Fête has just the playlist for you. Here are some ideas for activities:
- Set up a mask- and/or hat-decorating station for guests to create festive headwear, whether from scratch or to ornament a hat they brought
- Fill a jar with Mardi Gras trinkets, have guests guess the amount of individual items, and give out a prize to the winner
- When you cut the King cake, coronate the king or queen who gets the plastic baby in their piece
- Make a small parade route for kids to march, sing songs, throw beads, dance, and just generally have a hoot
Look For a Parade or Public Party Nearby
Many big cities and small towns around the U.S. hold parades, balls, and other festivities around Carnival and Mardi Gras. Do a little searching and join in the fun!
Fête Resources
Use our idea board and playlist to help make your home look, taste, and sound festive!
Mardi Gras Party Idea Board
Click on idea board for printable image with hyperlinks.
Mardi Gras Music Playlist
More About The Holiday
Mardi Gras History & Traditions
Carnival in the Medieval Age
In medieval Europe the season of Carnival was formed as a time of merriment between Epiphany and Lent. Carnival festivities spread around the world to places like Italy, Brazil, and France, where the culminating day of Carnival – the day before Ash Wednesday – became known as Mardi Gras. in 1699, French explorers landed in present-day Louisiana on the eve of Mardi Gras and named the location Point du Mardi Gras.
New Orleans Festivities
Street parties, masked balls or fêtes, and lavish dinners were celebrated during the Carnival, or Mardi Gras, season throughout the 18th century and into the 19th and, in the mid-1800s, New Orleans Mardi Gras parades became a regular staple of the holiday. The parades have been marked by krewes, floats, marching bands, “throws” (beads, doubloons, and other trinkets), and costumes, and these customs continue on today.
Mardi Gras Trivia
- The Krewe of Rex established the colors of purple, green, and gold, as symbols of justice, faith, and power
- Mardi Gras Indians date back to the 1800s when Native Americans helped shield runaway slaves
- By law people riding on Mardi Gras parade floats must wear masks or face paint
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