Whats Mardi Gras about?
A. Mardi Gras is New Orleans’ most famous and biggest holiday season. New Orleans and Mardi Gras are so linked in public perception that it sometimes comes as a surprise that the holiday didn’t originate here. But New Orleans and Mardi Gras have put their stamp on one another over the centuries, to the extent that there is some sense of the spirit of Mardi Gras year-round, reflected in every festival and party in the city. First, some definitions. The proper name for the holiday season that begins on Jan. 6 (or Twelfth Night) every year and ends on the day before the beginning of Lent is “Carnival.” Technically the name “Mardi Gras” applies only to Fat Tuesday (the English translation of the French name), the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. In New Orleans and elsewhere, however, it is common to use the term Mardi Gras to describe the festivities of the entire season, much as we might say “Merry Christmas,” or “It’s Christmas-time” to describe the entire period between
