MARDIS GRAS
Categories: Culture & Art, Music & Alcohol, Tobacco & Drugs
Location: United States
Type of Event: Weekly Event
Updated: May 06, 2024
Location: United States
Type of Event: Weekly Event
Updated: May 06, 2024
About Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras is a celebration that falls during the five days leading up to Lent. It is also known as Carnaval in Brazil.
Celebrations originally centered on Kings' Day or Twelfth Night which falls on Jan. 6 each year and celebrates the arrival of the three kings at Jesus' birthplace, thus ending the Christmas season. This festival known as Mardi Gras combines Christianity with paganism, celebrations of impending spring, dating back more than 5,000 years.
Pope Gregory XIII made Mardi Gras a Christian holiday when, in 1582, he put it on his Gregorian calendar (the 12-month one we still use today). He placed Mardi Gras on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. That way, all the debauchery would be finished when it came time to fast and pray.
Mardi Gras arrived in North America with the LeMoyne brothers, Iberville and Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiana.
On Ash Wednesday of 1838, The Commercial Bulletin read: "The European custom of celebrating the last day of the Carnival by a procession of masqued figures through the streets was introduced here yesterday." This was the first Mardis Gras parade. Due to rowdiness the annual Mardi Gras celebration was almost cancelled in 1857.
By the 20th Century, it ran into issues with anti-discrimination laws in 1988 called for krewes (groups of people who danced together as a unit) to open their ranks or get off public streets. In response, three of the four oldest krewes Comus (1857), Momus (1873) and Proteus (1882) took their floats and went home.
Post Katrina (2005), Mardi Gras took on a whole new meaning as a reminder of the resiliency and spirit of New Orleans.
About Mardi Gras facts http://www.nola.com/mardigras/index.ssf/2009/01/the_history_of_carnival.html#incart_river
Celebrations originally centered on Kings' Day or Twelfth Night which falls on Jan. 6 each year and celebrates the arrival of the three kings at Jesus' birthplace, thus ending the Christmas season. This festival known as Mardi Gras combines Christianity with paganism, celebrations of impending spring, dating back more than 5,000 years.
Pope Gregory XIII made Mardi Gras a Christian holiday when, in 1582, he put it on his Gregorian calendar (the 12-month one we still use today). He placed Mardi Gras on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. That way, all the debauchery would be finished when it came time to fast and pray.
Mardi Gras arrived in North America with the LeMoyne brothers, Iberville and Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiana.
On Ash Wednesday of 1838, The Commercial Bulletin read: "The European custom of celebrating the last day of the Carnival by a procession of masqued figures through the streets was introduced here yesterday." This was the first Mardis Gras parade. Due to rowdiness the annual Mardi Gras celebration was almost cancelled in 1857.
By the 20th Century, it ran into issues with anti-discrimination laws in 1988 called for krewes (groups of people who danced together as a unit) to open their ranks or get off public streets. In response, three of the four oldest krewes Comus (1857), Momus (1873) and Proteus (1882) took their floats and went home.
Post Katrina (2005), Mardi Gras took on a whole new meaning as a reminder of the resiliency and spirit of New Orleans.
About Mardi Gras facts http://www.nola.com/mardigras/index.ssf/2009/01/the_history_of_carnival.html#incart_river
PROMOTIONAL DETAILS
Event Sponsor:
New Orleans Department of Tourism
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