Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras(UK:/ˌmɑːrdiˈɡrɑː/,US:/ˈmɑːrdiɡrɑː/;also known asShrove Tuesday) is the final day ofCarnival(also known asShrovetideorFastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning ofLentonAsh Wednesday.Mardi GrasisFrenchfor "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of consuming rich, fatty foods in preparation for the Christianfasting season of Lent, during which the consumption of such foods is avoided.
Related popular practices are associated with Carnival celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with thepenitentialseason of Lent. In countries such as theUnited Kingdom, Mardi Gras is more usually known as Pancake Day or (traditionally) Shrove Tuesday, derived from the wordshrive, meaning "to administer the sacrament ofconfessionto; to absolve".
During theliturgical seasonof Lent, some Christiansabstain from the consumptionof certain foods such as meat, eggs, dairy products, and alcoholic beverages. Most Christian denominations observe the tradition of Lent; exceptions include many churches within theAnabaptist,Baptist,Methodist, andReformedtraditions.Shrovetideprovided Christians with the opportunity to use up these foods prior to the start of the 40-day fasting season of Lent.Prior to the 6th century, Lent was normatively observed through the practice of theBlack Fast, which enjoins fasting from food and liquids, with the allowance of onevegetarianmeal and water after sunset.The tradition ofpancake breakfastsduring Shrovetide, as well as that of pancake races, owes itself to this practice of "using up the surplus eggs, milk and butter" prior to Lent.In many Christian parish churches, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, a popular Shrove Tuesday tradition is the ringing of thechurch bells(on this day, the toll is known as the Shriving Bell) "to call the faithful to confession before the solemn season of Lent" and for people to "begin frying their pancakes".As such, a hallmark of Shrovetide is the opportunity for a last round of merrymaking associated with Mardis Gras before the start of the somber Lenten season.The last day of Shrovetide, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), is named as such "because people felt bloated having eaten up all the rich foods before Lent" in order to prepare for the coming season of repentance.
The festival season varies from city to city; Mardis Gras often refers to the last day of Shrovetide (or Fastelavn or Carnival), thus being synonymous withShrove Tuesday.Some traditions, such as the one inNew Orleans, Louisiana, consider Mardi Gras to stretch the entire period fromTwelfth Night(the last night of Christmas which beginsEpiphany) to Ash Wednesday.Others treat the final three-day period before Ash Wednesday as the Mardi Gras.
InMobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras–associated social events begin in November, followed bymystic societyballsNew Year's Eve, followed by parades and balls in January and February, celebrating up to midnight beforeAsh Wednesday. In earlier times, parades were held on New Year's Day.Carnival (orFastelavnorShrovetide) is an important celebration inLutheran,AnglicanandCatholicEuropean nations.
The three-dayCarnival of Binche, nearMons, is one of the best known in Belgium. It takes place aroundShrove Tuesday(or Mardi Gras) just beforeLent. Performers known asGilleswear elaborate costumes in thenational coloursof red, black and yellow. During the parade, they throworangesat the crowd.In 2003, it was recognized byUNESCOas one of theMasterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.
In theCzech Republic, it is a folk tradition to celebrate Mardi Gras, which is called Masopust (meat-fast, i.e. beginning of the fast there). There are celebrations in many places includingPrague,but the tradition also prevails in villages such asStaré Hamry, whose door-to-door processions made it to theUNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage List.
The celebration on the same day inGermanyknows many different terms, depending on the region, such asFastnacht, meaning the eve of the fast that takes place during Lent, or Veilchensdienstag (Violet Tuesday), as it is called in the Lower Rhine region. The celebrations often stretch from Epiphany, known in sections of Germany as Heilige Drei Könige, through the night before Ash Wednesday, and is variously known by different names, such asKarnevalorFaschingin Germany, Austria and German-speaking areas of Switzerland.  It is also often referred to as the "fifth season", which traditionally begins with Hoppeditz Erwachen (the waking of Hoppeditz, the Fool who embodies the Karneval season) on 11 November at 11:11 AM (11/11 11:11).and ends with his comic funeral mass on Fastnacht.
Karneval is filled with large banquets held by the various organizing societies and generally comes to a climax beginning on what is variously known asSchmutziger DonnerstagorFetter Donnerstag(Fat Thursday),Unsinniger Donnerstag(Nonsense Thursday),Altweiberfastnacht,Greesentagand others. Instandard German,schmutzigmeans "dirty", but in the Alemannic dialectsschmotzigmeans "lard" (Schmalz), or "fat";thus "Greasy Thursday", as remaining winter stores of lard and butter used to be consumed at that time, before the fasting began.  Altweiberfastnacht often featured women wearing men's clothing and assuming their roles.   In many towns across the state of North Rhine Westphalia, a ritual "takeover" of the town halls by local women has become tradition.
InItalyMardi Gras is called Martedì Grasso (Fat Tuesday).  It is the main day ofCarnivalalong with the Thursday before, called Giovedí Grasso (Fat Thursday), which ratifies the start of the celebrations. The most famousCarnivalsin northern Italy are in Venice, Viareggio and Ivrea, while in the southern part of Italy the SardinianSartigliaand the intriguing apotropaic masks, especially the mamuthones, issohadores, s'urtzu (and so on), are more popular, belonging to a very ancient tradition. Ivrea has the characteristic "Battle of Oranges" that finds its roots in medieval times.  The Italian version of the festival is spelled Carnevale.
InSwedenthe celebration is called Fettisdagen, when fastlagsbulle is eaten, more commonly calledSemla. The name comes from the words "fett" (fat) and "tisdag" (Tuesday). Originally, this was the only day one should eatfastlagsbullar.
While not observed nationally throughout the United States, a number of historically ethnically French cities and regions in the country have notable celebrations. Mardi Gras arrived in North America as aFrench Catholictradition with the Le Moyne brothers,Pierre Le Moyne d'IbervilleandJean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when KingLouis XIVsent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory ofLouisiane, which included what are now the U.S. states ofAlabama,Mississippi,Louisianaand part of easternTexas.
The expedition, led by Iberville, entered the mouth of theMississippi Riveron the evening of 2 March 1699 (new style),Lundi Gras. They did not yet know it was the river explored and claimed for France byRené-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Sallein 1683. The party proceeded upstream to a place on the east bank about 60 miles (100 km) downriver from whereNew Orleansis today, and made camp. This was on 3 March 1699, Mardi Gras, so in honour of this holiday, Iberville named the spotPoint du Mardi Gras(French: "Mardi Gras Point") and called the nearby tributary Bayou Mardi Gras.
Bienvillewent on to found the settlement ofMobile(now in Alabama) in 1702 as the first capital of French Louisiana.In 1703 French settlers in Mobile established thefirst organised Mardi Grascelebration tradition in what was to become the United States.The first informalmystic society, orkrewe, was formed in Mobile in 1711, theBoeuf Gras Society.Then came theStriker's Independent Societyin 1842, followed by the oldest parading mystic society theOrder of Mythsor "OOMs" in 1867.
In 1720,Biloxihad been made capital of Louisiana. The French Mardi Gras customs had accompanied the colonists who settled there.
In 1723, the capital of Louisiana was moved toNew Orleans, founded in 1718.The first Mardi Gras parade held in New Orleans is recorded to have taken place in 1833 withBernard de Marignyfunding the first organized parade, tableau, and ball. The tradition in New Orleans expanded to the point that it became synonymous with the city in popular perception, and embraced by residents of New Orleans beyond those of French or Catholic heritage. Mardi Gras celebrations are part of the basis of the sloganLaissez les bons temps rouler("Let the good times roll"), as floats "roll."
Festivities formally began in 1853 when a group ofProtestantAnglo-Americans, some members ofMobileMystic Societies, formed the first "old-line" krewe, TheMistick Krewe of Comus, based onBernard de Marigny's 1833 parade of paper-mached wagons, a formaltableau vivantand presentation of debutants, followed by a formalball. TheTwelfth Night Revelerswere formed in 1870, again with ties toMobile, but no longer stage a parade, just tableau and ball. TheKnights of MomusandRexcame about in 1872, with the last of the old-line krewes theKrewe of Proteusbeing formed 10 years later. Of these 5 groups only Rex and Proteus still formally parade, with theKnights of Chaosreplacing Momus.
The parades of the largest krewes (colloquially known as "super krewes") came later, during the 1960s/70's, and traditionally occur immediately prior to and on Shrove Tuesday, including those ofEndymion(Saturday, which also culminates with a concert event atCaesars Superdome),Bacchus(Sunday), andZuluandRex(Tuesday).
Other cities along the Gulf Coast with early French colonial heritage, fromPensacola, Florida, andGalveston, Texas, toLake CharlesandLafayette, Louisiana, and north toNatchez, Mississippi, andAlexandria, Louisiana, have active Mardi Gras celebrations.
Galveston's first recorded Mardi Gras celebration, in 1867, included a masked ball at Turner Hall (Sealy at 21st St.) and a theatrical performance from Shakespeare's "King Henry IV" featuring Alvan Reed (a justice of the peace weighing in at 350 pounds) as Falstaff. The first year that Mardi Gras was celebrated on a grand scale in Galveston was 1871 with the emergence of two rival Mardi Gras societies, or "Krewes" called the Knights of Momus (known only by the initials "K.O.M.") and the Knights of Myth, both of which devised night parades, masked balls, exquisite costumes and elaborate invitations. The Knights of Momus, led by some prominent Galvestonians, decorated horse-drawn wagons for a torch lit night parade. Boasting such themes as "The Crusades", "Peter the Great", and "Ancient France", the procession through downtown Galveston culminated at Turner Hall with a presentation of tableaux and a grand gala.
In the ruralAcadianaarea, manyCajunscelebrate with theCourir de Mardi Gras, a tradition that dates to medieval celebrations in France.
St. Louis, Missouri, founded in 1764 by French fur traders, claims to host the second largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States.The celebration is held in the historic French neighborhood,Soulard, and attracts hundreds of thousands of people from around the country.Although founded in the 1760s, the St. Louis Mardi Gras festivities only date to the 1980s.The city's celebration begins with "12th night," held on Epiphany, and ends on Fat Tuesday. The season is peppered with various parades celebrating the city's rich French Catholic heritage.
Mardi Gras, as a celebration of life before the more-somber occasion of Ash Wednesday, nearly always involves the use of masks and costumes by its participants, and the most popular celebratory colors are purple, green, and gold.  In New Orleans, for example, these often take the shape of fairies, animals, people from myths, or various Medieval costumesas well as clowns and Indians (Native Americans).
Many costumes today are simply elaborate creations of colored feathers and capes. UnlikeHalloweencostumery, Mardi Gras costumes are not usually associated with such things as zombies, mummies, bats, blood, and the like, though death may be a theme in some. The Venice tradition has brought golden masks into the usual round of costumes.
Although theChurchteaches that it is sinful and that it contravenes the Christian standards ofmodesty,the practice of some women exposing their breasts during Mardi Gras inNew Orleans, US, has been documented since 1889, when theTimes-Democratdecried the "degree of immodesty exhibited by nearly all female masqueraders seen on the streets." The practice was mostly limited to tourists in the upper Bourbon Street area.In the crowded streets of the French Quarter, generally avoided by locals on Mardi Gras Day,flasherson balconies cause crowds to form on the streets.
In the last decades of the 20th century, the rise in producing commercialvideotapescatering tovoyeurshelped encourage a tradition of women baring their breasts in exchange for beads and trinkets.  Social scientists studying "ritual disrobement" found, at Mardi Gras 1991, 1,200 instances of body-baring in exchange for beads or other favors.