A talking alligator told us that Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.
The other thing I did not know was that in Louisiana, Mardi Gras is more of a season than a one time celebration on Fat Tuesday! The Carnival season begins on January 6th and runs until the beginning of Lent. Carnival can run as long as two months, depending on the church calendar.
I found a PBS video on You Tube that can explain it better than I can!
Click the word "this" to go to the video from PBS THIS
The Kings and Queens costumes tells a story of the wearer's personality, family history & heritage, hobbies, college fraternities and or etc. Mardi Gras costumes can be over the top it can weigh as much as 150 pounds and cost $5,000!
Can you imagine carrying this around with you for several hours?
Contrary to popular belief, the first Mardi Gras parade in the United States didn't take place in New Orleans. It was held in Mobile, Alabama in the early 1700s, when the area was still under French rule.
The official Mardi Gras colors are Purple, Green and Gold they represent Power, Faith, and Justice. I found this photo on line of the official Mardi Gras Flag.
Floats first appeared in the mid-1800s but they were no where near as intricate as they are today! Back then they decorated horse-drawn carriages and wagons.
1839 The Mardi Gras Prade consisted of one float!
Today some of the floats are hand painted by artist, are double decker and all lit up! People involved in designing and making of these floats work year round to get the next one ready
for next years events!
Looking at these photos I found on line, you can easily see why they take a year to make!
Mardi Gras doesn't just cause people to do crazy things, the dogs have decided to get in on the act as well! These are non copyrighted photos I found on line.
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