More on dates – Whats the difference between Carnival and Mardi Gras, and when do things begin and end?
Carnival, which is Latin for “kiss your flesh goodbye,” is a long season between Christmas and Lent. This historically Roman Catholic city, which loves its food and drink more than normal, prepares for the pre-Easter Lenten season by partying up until the last minute. Carnival officially begins in New Orleans on the Feast of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night – Jan. 6 – and continues until the midnight of Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. The date for Ash Wednesday, of course, changes from year to year depending on the date of Easter. The Carnival season builds slowly, from the drunken streetcar-jacking parade of the Phunny Phorty Phellows on Jan. 6 until Mardi Gras Day. The intervening weeks are filled with balls, banquets and other social activities. “Mardi Gras” (which is French for Fat Tuesday) technically applies only to the day before Ash Wednesday. But “Mardi Gras” is also commonly used to refer to the whole Carnival season, especially the final frenzied two weeks when the most
