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Mardi Gras: Mardi Gras Celebration
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Mardi Gras is a day of carnival, when people dress up, have parades, dance, eat, drink, and stay up late. Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday" in French. The name "Fat Tuesday" comes from the ancient custom of parading a fattened ox through the streets of Paris, France, at the beginning of the celebration, which precedes Lent. Lent is the 40-day period preceding Easter; it is a period of Christian religious observance when people temporarily give up something they enjoy. Mardi Gras (... known as Shrove Tuesday) is celebrated by some people as a last party before Lent.
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"Mardi Gras is just one of the many traditions that have contributed to the romance and lore of New Orleans," said the city's mayor, Ray Nagin. "On Mardi Gras day, New Orleans puts its lust for life on parade. But you will ... find that every day is cause for celebration in a city that is imbued with the Carnival spirit."
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The history of a Mardi Gras celebration existed many years before Europeans came to the New World. Some time in the Second Century, during mid-February (usually February 15 according to the Julian calendar), Ancient Romans would observe what they called the Lupercalia, a circus-type festival which was, in many respects, quite similar to the present day Mardi Gras. This festival honored the Roman deity, Lupercus, a pastoral God associated with Faunus or the Satyr. Although Lupercus is derived from the Latin Lupus (meaning "wolf"), the original meaning of the word as it applies to Roman religion has become obscured over the passage of time.
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As a celebration, Mardi Gras has spread throughout the United States. Today the revelry can be found from California to Pennsylvania. Still, no where is more closely associated with Mardi Gras than New Orleans, which is understandable since it is certainly the largest and wildest carnival celebration. However Mardi Gras neophytes are often shocked to learn that New Orleans owes much of her carnival traditions to her smaller Gulf Coast sister city, Mobile Alabama. As French found cities, New Orleans and Mobile both share many Creole traditions and distinct traits; both were capitols of the Louisiana Territory, both are gritty seaports, and both know how to throw a party. Still, it is Mobile that can stake the claim as "Mother of the Mystics."
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Mardi Gras is heavily celebrated in many cities all over the Southeastern United States. Millions of people in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida enjoy Mardi Gras parades in their own cities. Millions more will travel hundreds of miles just to see it with their own eyes. While the celebration has begun to spread throughout the country, many cities outside of the Deep South have found the celebration difficult to control. Mardi Gras, as any visitor to New Orleans will quickly become aware, is more than just a scheduled party. It is a time to Let the Good Times Roll!, to enjoy life, great food, drinks and friends.
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The celebration of Mardi Gras in Germany is called Karneval, Fastnacht, or Fasching[8]. Fastnacht means "Eve of the Beginning of the Fast", and ... it is celebrated until the day before Ash Wednesday.
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Mardi Gras Celebration