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Mardis Gras Parade Photo by Dave Clark

"America's Greatest Street Party," otherwise known as Mardi Gras, is New Orleans's most elaborate and highly acclaimed event of the year (for additional information specifically about New Orleans see our WorldWeb.com Travel Guide Review). This popular festival is accompanied by a seemingly endless stream of parades, brightly colored and intricately designed costumes, masquerade balls and unsurpassable excitement. Mardi Gras itself, directly translated as "Fat Tuesday" from the French language, is always the day before Ash Wednesday, or exactly 47 days before Easter. It can fall on any Tuesday between February 3rd and March 9th. Festivities however, begin as early as January 6th, which is the Feast of Epiphany (also known as the Twelfth Night, which marks the day the Three Kings arrived in Bethlehem to see the Christ child).

HISTORY
Although Mardi Gras today is renowned as little more than a rowdy party, this celebration is deeply rooted in history and Christian origin. Mardi Gras was originally seen as a great indulgence before the fasting and penitence of the Christian season of Lent. The festivities of Mardi Gras were introduced to New Orleans by French colonists who immigrated to the area in the 1740s. The French colonists continued their European traditions of marking the upcoming season of Lent by feasting and celebrating in costume. Eventually, the celebrations that originated with the French, along with the festivities of locals of African and Caribbean descent (who celebrated the season with costumes and musical rituals), merged to make Mardi Gras what it is today.

KREWES
Mardi Gras was originally a predominantly Creole celebration. However, a group of Americans who belonged to a secret society called the Cowbellians desperately wanted to partake in the festivities. Rather than accepting their role as bystanders, they formed a group called the Mystick Krewe of Comus and set out parading with torches on Mardi Gras evening in 1856. This torch-lit parade, which was spectacular in effect and design, became a new Mardi Gras tradition. Virtually every Mardi Gras thereafter has climaxed in the evening with the appearance of the Krewe of Comus and their parade. This also set the precedent for all Mardi Gras societies, which became known as krewes. Made up of prominent society members and successful businessmen, many other krewes began to emerge.

The next krewe to present itself was Rex, known as "the king of carnival." Rex was conceived primarily to celebrate the arrival of the grand duke of Russia, Alexis Alexandrovich Romanov. The duke's mistress and lover at the time, an American actress named Lydia Thompson, sang a song in a burlesque New York show Bluebeard entitled "If Ever I Cease To Love You." Coincidentally, this was the duke's favorite song, so all the bands in the Rex parade were asked to play it. This song became, and still remains today, the official song of Mardi Gras. The krewe of Rex also chose the official colors of Mardi Gras in 1872 based on symbolic meaning: purple for justice, green for faith and gold for power.

Mardi Gras remained an event that involved only the most elite members of society and did not promote racial equity until the early 20th century. In 1909 an African-American man named William Storey joined in the festivities by mocking the elaborate measures of Rex as he followed along behind the krewe's float wearing a lard can for a crown. Almost immediately, Storey was nicknamed "King Zulu" and by 1916 his following had grown so large that they officially became the Krewe of Zulu. Zulu's parade, one of the most popular of Mardi Gras, mocks racial stereotypes and remains a satire of the Rex Krewe. Zulu's most memorable and celebrated King, Louis Armstrong, reigned in 1949.

Dozens of other krewes have emerged over the years and each krewe, as its successors have always done, hosts a ball headed by a king and queen, presents a parade and participates in a range of additional events.

THROWS

Beads

The first krewe to toss trinkets out to parade goers was the Twelfth Night Revelers in 1870. When Rex began throwing trinkets to the crowds in the 1920s, this practice became very popular and is now mandatory. Over the decades, these throws (as they are now called) have become quite extravagant. Plastic beads, plastic krewe cups and toys are all popular throws, as well as doubloons, which are aluminum coins that feature the krewe's coat of arms on one side of the coin with the parade year and theme on the flip side. One of the most sought after and collectible throws are the painted Zulu coconuts, which of course, are handed down rather than tossed. As a cautionary measure, always be careful when picking up throws from the ground. Before hastily bending down to retrieve your throws, place your foot over the prize and wait for a safer moment instead; otherwise you may end up losing a hand or finger in all the chaos.

KING CAKE
Many people feel that a Mardi Gras celebration is incomplete without a King Cake - it plays an important role in the festivities. King Cake is believed to have originated in France sometime during the 12th century, where it was eaten in celebration of the Feast of Epiphany. Symbolic of the circular route that the three kings took to avoid King Herod and his plot to kill the Christ child, King Cake is round with a hole in the middle. Historically, the cakes have been baked with a small toy baby hidden inside. A tradition has been held that the person who receives the piece of cake with the toy baby is expected to hold the next Mardi Gras party. Today, millions of King Cakes are baked in several New Orleans's bakeries and served across the country. Over the years they have become more elaborate than the original brioche dough circles: The cakes are now colorfully decorated with purple, green and gold sugars, as well as candied fruits that represent the jewels in the Kings' crowns.

MARDI GRAS DAY FESTIVITIES
From January 6th, the Feast of Epiphany, onward, the parades (approximately 60 fill the schedule each year) and celebrations become increasingly frequent and more involved. The festivities begin to hit their peak about two-and-a-half weeks prior to Mardi Gras Day itself. An increase in excitement is particularly noticeable on the four-day carnival weekend, when at last the climax of Mardi Gras arrives on "Fat Tuesday."

Depending on where you choose to participate in the revelry, there are two distinct variations of how Mardi Gras can be experienced: family-rated or completely wild. With all the excitement of the day, the festivities traditionally evolve into a full out bacchanalia in many areas - a wild, noisy and drunken party that can become perfectly crude.

French Quarter

For a family-rated experience of the festivities on Mardi Gras Day, visitors will want to stake their claim very early in the morning on a section of the sidewalk along St. Charles Avenue. Early on parade day, before sunrise, this street will be lined with eager parade-goers dressed in costumes and the official Mardi Gras colors, blankets, chairs, ladders, coolers and anything else that may be needed for a full day of parade watching. At around 10:00 a.m. a continuous stream of floats, marching bands and walking groups begins to flow. The two most popular parades, the Krewes of Zulu and Rex, take place on this day, as well as several others. Many people stay in this area for the entire day and night, taking in all the parades and excitement that take place in this area.

For a different Mardi Gras experience altogether, party-goers head to the French Quarter, particularly Bourbon Street.

Bourbon Street

The festivities in this area are not so much about parades and costumes, but rather, they are focused on drinking and "having a good time." Intoxicated partiers, oblivious to the troubles of the world, are in the streets and hanging down from balconies. Nudity and risqué behavior are common sights, as well as plenty of "flashing," which is used as a devious tool to receive the throws that are most desired. The parades and other festivities that take place in the French Quarter are of a different kind, as is virtually everything that happens here. The St Ann Walking Parade, a showcase of some of the most extraordinary and bizarre costumes of the day, marches around the French Quarter. Also not to be missed are the Bourbon Street Awards - a flamboyant gay costume competition featuring some of New Orleans's finest drag-divas.

At midnight, for those with enough energy remaining to see the hour, sirens blare throughout the city as the police force declares that Mardi Gras is officially over. When planning a trip to New Orleans to participate in the festivities, remember that Mardi Gras is always what one makes of it - it can be as wild or tame as you want it to be. Once a decision is made about where the day will be spent, go with the flow of the festivities.

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