Guide Note

Tens of thousands travel to New Orleans annually to celebrate Fat Tuesday, the day ending Carnival and just before the beginning of the Catholic holiday Lent. Though Carnival is celebrated worldwide, Mardi Gras is thought of in America as a celebratory event specific to New Orleans. It nearly always lands in February or early March, and will be celebrated in 2009 on February 24.

Around the World

Mardi Gras is highly associated with French Catholicism, and descends in Louisiana from the original French celebrations. In France, the annual custom is celebrated in Nice with parades and fireworks.

Pope Gregory XIII made Mardi Gras an official Christian holiday in 1582, though much of its religious prominence has been lost in the western world.