Mardi Gras 2012: Your Need-to-Know Guide

Pimsleur Approach • February 17, 2012 • Traditions • Comments (0)

Day of Mardi Gras image via Wikipedia

Mardi Gras is something of a godsend. Though the year has barely got going, by mid-February most of us are flagging; Christmas is but a distant memory and the winter blues are biting hard. The answer? Throw the craziest carnival of the year, of course!

What exactly is Mardi Gras?
Mardi Gras is French for ‘Fat Tuesday’, the blunt moniker for a day on which people traditionally ate the last of the fatty foods up before fasting over the Lenten season. The celebration can be traced back to the ancient Romans, whose Lupercalia was a pagan ritual in which people would ‘purify’ the city of evil spirits and welcome in health and fertility. As they embraced Christianity, rather than abandon their much-loved Lupercalia, the Romans incorporated it into the new religion.

It wasn’t until the late 17th century that Mardi Gras reached the shores of the US. In 1699 King Louis
XIV dispatched his two trusted explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne
de Bienville to defend his claim in Louisiane. Landing in what is now close to New Orleans, they
held a humble celebration and named this spot Point du Mardi Gras. In 1703, French settlers in
nearby Mobile had started the first true Stateside Mardi Gras with feasting and merriment, and the
following year the first masked ball was thrown.

The State of Louisiana declared Mardi Gras a legal holiday in 1875.

Where should I celebrate Mardi Gras?
On February 21 2012, carnival parades and parties will erupt the world over, and there’s bound to
be something going down wherever you are. In the States, New Orleans is naturally the place to
be. Endless ‘krewes’ (special Mardi Gras organizations) have already started parading through the
city – entertaining spectators with fancy dress, floats and gifts – and will do so right up until Ash
Wednesday (February 22). Special ‘king cakes’ are eaten, each with a small Baby Jesus baked inside.
The person who gets a mouthful of the infant is given the honor of hosting next year’s king cake
party.

Elsewhere, Rio Carnival is the biggest Mardi Gras celebration in the world, attracting some 2 million
revelers each year. Samba is the soundtrack to the Carnival, while the imagination and effort that
goes into costumes becomes more outlandish by the year.

This year in Sydney, the huge gay and lesbian Mardi Gras welcomes back pint-sized popstress Kylie
Minogue as Carnival Queen, while sunbathers on Bondi Beach will have to make way for the ‘Drag
Races’ in which competitive events held on the famous sands will include the ‘Dainty Dune Dash’
and ‘Handbag Discus.’

Trinidad and Tobago are no strangers to the concept of having a good time. Along with the
ubiquitous calypso music that resounds around the two islands, competitions play a huge part in
their Mardi Gras. The most prestigious award is to be crowned Calypso Monarch; the winner of this
title also scoring TT$2,000,000 and a new set of wheels.