We, in this 21st century where there are many religious beliefs. People accommodate all types of beliefs as we believe in unity in diversity. Christianity is one such religion that is prevailing now from the 1st century AD. There are many celebrations that are observed by the religion, and Mardi Gras is one of them. In this article, we will look at some key points about this festival along with Mardi Gras meaning, dates for Mardi Gras, Mardi Gras food etc.
History of Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras is celebrated as a carnival festival, and people believe it must have come from the pagan celebrations observed in the Roman traditions. Saturn was called God of agriculture. Therefore it is also linked with the concepts of fertility and spring. The festival was called Saturnalia, and it was a week-long festival where people took rest. For a week, everything was closed, and they resumed work later. Back then, this was roughly celebrated in the middle of December nd later was associated with Christmas.
Several people also propose many popular theories that Mardi Gras was conducted as a protest against the Catholic Church as they didn’t encourage eating meat or having sexual intercourse. By labelling it as Paganism, the Church officials wanted to prevent the Pre-Lent celebrations. Therefore is it somewhat safe to say there is a lot of grey area in tracing the origin of Mardi Gras.
The celebration of the first Mardi Gras
As far as the U.S is concerned, the first Mardi Gras was conducted in the year 1703 with a collaboration with a secret society called The Masque de Mobile. This organization was utilized for organizing celebrations. In New Orleans, a similar society, called “krewes” provides funds to organize Mardi Gras, which helps in buying floats and other decorations. The first celebration was organized in the year 1718 in New Orleans. Street parades became popular centuries later, and many krewes and their members remember them anonymously. This is the overall history of Mardi Gras.
Significance of the word “Mardi Gras”
The word “Mardi Gras” is derived from French language where the word “Mardi” means “Tuesday” and “Gras” means “Fat”. In the French language, the adjective always comes after the first word. Therefore, it is called “Mardi Gras”. As the days of the festival involve a lot of eating and partying, the name “Mardi Gras” can be justified. Some also call it “Shrove Tuesday” which is derived from an English term called Shrovetide. The term “Shrovetide” means the last day before the liturgical period called Lent. It is also important to note the word “Shrove” means to confess or be pardoned of sin.
Why is Mardi Gras celebrated?
Lent is a religious ritual in Christianity where people from the age group of twenty-two to fifty-eight must observe fasting by performing certain practices like abstaining from smoking, drinking, eating meat etc. As people will not be eating meat for the next 40 days of the Lent, they party and eat quite a lot and become fat. The gained fat helps them to survive the next 40 days, where they will not be eating much.
When is Mardi Gras celebrated?
Mardi Gras begins a week before the observation of Lent and commerces exactly after Holy Monday and before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras must be held exactly 47 days before Easter. In the year 2020, Mardi Gras was celebrated on February 25. In the year 2021, Mardi Gras was celebrated on February 16.
Who organizes and financially supports Mardi Gras?
In the Mardi Gras organized in New Orleans, the private, non-profit organization called “krewes” meets together and plans the theme, costumes, masks, and other required celebrations. Each club of the carnival is only funded by the members and sometimes the members find corporate sponsors. The role of the city government of New Orleans is nothing except for issuing parade permits for the parade organized by the krewes.
The Colour Scheme of Mardi Gras
When it comes to celebrations, festivals and parades, colours play an essential role, and they always denote something through it. As far as Mardi Gras is concerned, in the year 1892, the Rex Parade theme was “Symbolism of Colors”. In this year they gave colours different meanings. Purple denoted justice and was considered to be a royal colour. Similarly, green denoted faith and gold denoted power.
What can one see at a Mardi Gras parade or carnival?
1. Mardi Gras Balls:
The Krewe members, during the Mardi Gras, prepare a lavish ball for the people to attend and make merry. The history of the ball dates back to the 1800s, and people were given invitations to attend balls. Even today, only private balls are being held, and tickets are given. These ticketed events are also open to the public.
2. Mardi Gras King Cake:
The delicious part of Mardi Gras is a King Cake which is also part of the tradition, and it is sold easily in local grocery stores. It can be found between Twelfth Night and Fat Tuesday, and the cake looks oval-shaped. The cake has icing of the colour purple, green and gold with a plastic baby stuffed inside the cake. Due to the choking of the hazardous plastic baby, they were later placed on the top of the cake.
3. Mardi Gras and Throwing Things:
One of the most famous and well known Mardi Gras is throwing things at the people from a place which is followed at every carnival. This tradition is passed from the 1920s when the krewe members handed out tiny things to the parade followers. They are usually beads, and the originally distributed beads were made out of glass, but nowadays, many things, including small toys, are being thrown. If a person’s lucky, some krewe member might throw one of that vintage glass beads, and you can get hold of it. Some popular throws are toys, cups, Moonpies, doubloons, and some handcrafted signature krewe member covet.
4. Costumes and Masks used in Mardi Gras:
By the law, all the people who participate in Mardi Gras must wear a mask while parading. Masking is legal for everyone, and people also wear very bright costumes, wigs and masks, which makes them stand out from the crowd.
Few unknown facts about Mardi Gras:
- It is not at all easy to join a krewe and become a member of their organization. Several krewes stand out exclusively than the rest.
- At the middle of the parade, there are always huge floats that capture the audience's attention. They are usually paper mache made large-sized sculptures.
- Whoever cuts a king cake and finds a baby inside it must be king of the day. They must also purchase the next king cake for the next day.
- Wearing a mask earlier was emphasized to escape the constraints of class, gender and society. People can be as they want and mingle with anyone they want, irrespective of any discrimination.
Overall, these are a few facts about Mardi Gras and what Mardi Gras means. These facts can be helpful for a person who plans on visiting New Orleans and enjoys Mardi Gras.
