Cheryl and I still remember our first Mardi Gras over 50 years ago as if it were yesterday. The event was a huge party full of excitement, color, and cheer. Even though things have changed since then, the festival still retains its lively and thrilling atmosphere. 

 One of the best things about Mardi Gras is the high school bands that play captivating music while marching down the streets. You can see kids, guys, clowns, girls, and many more exciting performers. Don't forget to get some beads while you're there, and make sure to try some of the delicious food from the street-side vendors. We are always thrilled to attend Mardi Gras, and for the past several years, our niece has been on one of the floats in New Orleans, so we try to go as often as we can.

  Mardi Gras is a Christian holiday and a popular cultural phenomenon celebrated in many countries around the world. It dates back thousands of years to pagan spring and fertility rites. 

The festivities are held mainly in countries with large Roman Catholic populations. Brazil, Venice, and New Orleans are some of the most popular destinations for Mardi Gras, with thousands of tourists and revelers joining the celebrations every year. Mardi Gras is traditionally celebrated on "Fat Tuesday," the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent, but in many areas, it has evolved into a week-long festival. In 2024, Mardi Gras will fall on Tuesday, February 13th. The Mardi Gras tradition dates back thousands of years to pagan celebrations of spring and fertility, including the raucous Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Lupercalia. When Christianity arrived in Rome, religious leaders decided to incorporate these popular local traditions into the new faith, an easier task than abolishing them altogether. As a result, the excess and debauchery of the Mardi Gras season became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of fasting and penance between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Mardi Gras has spread from Rome to other European countries, including France, Germany, Spain, and England, along with Christianity. Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, and gras means "fat." In France, the day before Ash Wednesday came to be known as Mardi Gras, or "Fat Tuesday." Traditionally, in the days leading up to Lent, merrymakers would binge on all the rich, fatty foods - meat, eggs, milk, lard, and cheese - that remained in their homes, in anticipation of several weeks of eating only fish and different types of fasting. The word carnival, another common name for the pre-Lenten festivities, also derives from this feasting tradition. In Medieval Latin, carnelevarium means to take away or remove meat, from the Latin carnem for meat.