What Is Fat Tuesday

What Is Fat Tuesday, In recent years, Mardi Gras, literally “fat Tuesday,” has gained a reputation as wild celebration held each year in boisterous places like Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans’ French Quarter.

Believe it or not, the Carnival celebrations often associated with beads, parades, costumes and partying actually stem from the Christian calendar.

According to AmericanCatholic.org , Mardi Gras originated as the “last hurrah” of gluttony before Lent and fasting began on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is also the final culmination of the entire Carnival season, serving as a grand finale to six weeks of celebration.

The Carnival season kicks off with Epiphany – which falls on January 6, 12 days after Christmas – to celebrate the Wise Men who brought gifts to infant Jesus. Epiphany is traditionally celebrated with a wreath-shaped “king cake,” often decorated the Mardi Gras colors of purple (justice), green (faith) and gold (power). New Orleans Online asserts that traditional king cake is one of the most popular Carnival institutions.

Mardi Gras as we know it today was first celebrated in the late 1700s, according to a report from the Orange County Register , when French settlers in what is now Louisiana held masked pre-Lenten balls. Though the Spanish prohibited the celebrations when they controlled the land, the revelry returned in the mid-1800s and has been celebrated in New Orleans every year since.

Today cities including Mobile, Ala.; St. Louis, Mo.; Sydney, Australia; and Quebec City, Canada hold massive Mardi Gras celebrations often including parades, parties and more.

Fat Tuesday History

Fat Tuesday History, In recent years, Mardi Gras, literally “fat Tuesday,” has gained a reputation as wild celebration held each year in boisterous places like Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans’ French Quarter. Believe it or not, the Carnival celebrations often associated with beads, parades, costumes and partying actually stem from the Christian calendar.

According to AmericanCatholic.org , Mardi Gras originated as the “last hurrah” of gluttony before Lent and fasting began on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is also the final culmination of the entire Carnival season, serving as a grand finale to six weeks of celebration.

The Carnival season kicks off with Epiphany – which falls on January 6, 12 days after Christmas – to celebrate the Wise Men who brought gifts to infant Jesus. Epiphany is traditionally celebrated with a wreath-shaped “king cake,” often decorated the Mardi Gras colors of purple (justice), green (faith) and gold (power). New Orleans Online asserts that traditional king cake is one of the most popular Carnival institutions.

Mardi Gras as we know it today was first celebrated in the late 1700s, according to a report from the Orange County Register , when French settlers in what is now Louisiana held masked pre-Lenten balls. Though the Spanish prohibited the celebrations when they controlled the land, the revelry returned in the mid-1800s and has been celebrated in New Orleans every year since.

Today cities including Mobile, Ala.; St. Louis, Mo.; Sydney, Australia; and Quebec City, Canada hold massive Mardi Gras celebrations often including parades, parties and more.

Want to check out Mardi Gras festivities for yourself? Click over to NOLA.com’s Parade Cam to join the party.

Fat Tuesday 2012

Fat Tuesday 2012, Rocker Bret Michaels and Grammy-winning singer Cyndi Lauper were expected to usher in Mardi Gras with musical performances in the wee hours of the morning Tuesday during a glitzy ball following the Orpheus parade.

Michaels, the bandana-wearing Poison frontman, and Lauper were the celebrity riders in Orpheus, the parade club founded in 1993 by New Orleans native actor and crooner Harry Connick Jr.

As the Orpheus ball was to wind down early Tuesday, revelers geared up for the Fat Tuesday parades rolling shortly after daybreak. Some revelers would party through the night.

Clarinetist Pete Fountain will be leading his marching band from the city’s Garden District to the French Quarter.

Lent follows Fat Tuesday. It is the period of fasting and repentance before Easter Sunday.