New Orleans Mardi Gras: History, Tradition and Insider’s Tips

By Thu Tran and Arthur Hardy

In New Orleans, the city famous for its French Quarter and Bourbon Street, for Creole cuisine and for cool Dixieland jazz, one event surpasses them all - Mardi Gras! It's a season of revelry and romance, of madness and music, of parades and parties, of comic costuming in the streets and grandiose private masquerade balls. Mardi Gras is a time when the gaudy and the gorgeous all come together for one all-encompassing blowout. From the regal to the ridiculous, New Orleans Mardi Gras has it all!

Since the first modern-day pageant was presented in 1857, with time outs occasioned by World Wars, more than 1,800 Mardi Gras parades have been staged in metro New Orleans. The festivities have grown into one of the world's grandest tourist attractions. Yet for all its international acclaim, it can be difficult for a first-timer to grasp. The celebration has its own vocabulary, and Mardi Gras day is scheduled on a different date each year! Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Mardi Gras, however, is its connection to religion.

THE BASICS

Carnival, loosely translated from Latin as "farewell to flesh," is the season of merriment that begins in New Orleans each year on January 6, the Twelfth Night feast of the Epiphany (the day the three kings visited the Christ Child). Mardi Gras, French for "Fat Tuesday," is the single-day climax of the season. While Mardi Gras undoubtedly has pagan and pre-Christian origins, the Catholic Church legitimized the festival as a brief celebration before the penitential season of Lent. The date of Mardi Gras is set to occur 46 days before Easter and can fall as early as Feb. 3 or as late as March 9. This year, Mardi Gras day falls on Tuesday, Feb. 28.

During the 12 days preceding Mardi Gras, more than 60 parades and hundreds of private parties, dances and masked balls are annually scheduled in the metro area. Fat Tuesday is a legal holiday in New Orleans, a day when half the city turns out in costume to watch the other half parade! Then, promptly at midnight, the party's over as Ash Wednesday ushers in the austere Lenten season.

The single custom that most distinguishes Mardi Gras parades is that of throws - trinkets tossed from the floats - which turn New Orleans parades into unmatched crowd participation events. "Throw Me Something Mister" is the battle cry of the million-plus people who line the parade routes. Most popular among the millions of throws are those that illustrate the organization's logo and the parade's theme, including plastic drinking cups, medallion necklaces and colorful aluminum coins called doubloons.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Mardi Gras annually generates nearly half-a-billion dollars for the New Orleans economy. Since no commercial or corporate sponsorship of a Mardi Gras parade is permitted, it is the Carnival club members who put on the show and foot the entire bill.

Mardi Gras organizations are non-profit clubs called krewes, and many are named after mythological figures such as Aphrodite, Eros, Hermes, Pegasus and Thor. Each krewe is completely autonomous, and there is no overall coordinator of Carnival activities. The secrecy with which some of the older krewes cloak themselves is part of the mystique of Mardi Gras. Several do not reveal the theme of the parade until the night of the event, and the identity of their royalty is never publicized. Most of the newer organizations take a more public approach.

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INSIDER’S TIPS

 Each year, hundreds of thousands of people descend on New Orleans for Mardi Gras festivities. Large crowds line parade routes and the streets of New Orleans for the Greatest Free Show on Earth. Here are a few tips and regulations to make sure your clients are prepared and that your Mardi Gras experience is unforgettable!

 • Be sure to check the forecast. The weather can range from 70 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit depending on the date of Mardi Gras.

 • Dress in comfortable, casual clothing that is weather appropriate. If rain is forecasted, a rain coat will leave you protected from the elements and keep your hands free to continue catching beads.

 • Be festive! Revelers who dress in costume often catch more. Purple, green and gold, the official Carnival colors, can be seen throughout the city. 

 • Be sure to bring a large tote bag or backpack to put all your beads in.

 • Get to the parade route early. The best spots go quickly.

 • Bring a portable chair, ice chest or blanket. Parades can last all day.

 • Allow plenty of time to maneuver large crowds.

 • Know exactly where the parades are by downloading one of the parade tracking apps

Y'ALL COME

But after all is said and done, Mardi Gras remains an event and a spirit that must be experienced to be understood. It's a mixture of centuries - old traditions and high-tech innovations. From the bawdy behavior of Bourbon Street to the family festival that Mardi Gras is everywhere else, the Carnival season in New Orleans truly defies description. Perhaps noted local author Don Lee Keith said it best: "In the truest sense, it is magic. But magic revealed is magic destroyed. And that is why the gods who made Mardi Gras dissolved the secret of that day in a chalice of mystery, leaving their creation forever without definition."