Fat Tuesday is upon us. For some people this might not mean much but for others Mardi Gras marks Carnival’s climatic ending. These celebrations are traditions in the United States in cities such as New Orleans and Mobile and around the world in places such as Brazil and Venice. The celebrations that I find most interesting are the ones right here in the United States. It’s amazing to see how much the culture of Carnival influences attitudes and values throughout the year.
After the New Year, most Americans are hanging their head, packing up the Christmas decorations and dealing with holiday bills and extra pounds. But down in cities like New Orleans, Carnival is just getting started. The Christmas season ends with Epiphany, or Twelfth Night, but on January 6 Carnival begins. The celebration begins with krewe parties, where krewes hold private balls and dinner parties. In the weeks leading up to Mardi Gras, krewes take their parties to the streets with elaborate public parades.
If you aren’t going to make it to a Mardi Gras celebration this year, you still won’t be able to get any beads or other plastic trinkets from floats…But thanks to technology you can check out live streaming videos of the parades at: http://www.nola.com/mardigras/.