{"id":889718,"date":"2025-03-13T13:01:22","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T13:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/blog\/?p=889718"},"modified":"2025-03-13T13:35:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T13:35:11","slug":"mardi-gras-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insightvacations.com\/blog\/mardi-gras-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"17 Mardi Gras Facts You Need to Know About"},"content":{"rendered":"

Laissez les bon temps rouler during Mardi Gras this year.\u00a0<\/span>Carnival season is in full swing around the world from the beginning of January until the start of Lent and one of the most popular aspects of Carnival is Mardi Gras: the final Tuesday of the season. <\/span>But did you know that there\u2019s an official King Baby sports mascot or that there\u2019s one place in New Orleans where you can see parade floats year-round? <\/span>Whether you\u2019re headed to New Orleans, the epicenter of Mardi Gras in the United States, or are celebrating Carnival\u2019s conclusion in another city like Mobile, St. Louis, or Lake Charles, take a bit of trivia along with you \u2013 with these 15 insightful facts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

1. You\u2019re not the first person to wear that string of beads<\/span><\/h3>\n

Millions upon millions of favors are thrown from the floats during the festival, particularly beads. The Mardi Gras beads have become one of the most iconic items associated with the celebration. The colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold which represent justice ,faith, and power; and perhaps inadvertently symbolically, you won\u2019t find virginal white anywhere on the string.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s impossible to say just how many beads are brand new, but one thing is for sure: Mardi Gras parades recycle beads from year to year. Many locals collect beads and drop them off at community offices that clean and prepare to reuse them the following year.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Mask wearing holds a special significance in the U.S.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Look at photographs from any Carnival celebrations around the world and you\u2019ll see festival goers donning flamboyant masks. A parade in New Orleans is no different, though there\u2019s a special significance to the mask wearing in the American South.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With racial inequality preventing African Americans from joining the Carnival celebrations, many used masks and costumes to attend the event. Interestingly enough, it\u2019s against Louisiana law to wear masks, hoods, or any type of facial disguise in public, with one exception being Mardi Gras festivities. In fact, all float riders <\/span>must<\/span><\/i> wear a mask or paint their faces according to state law.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. It’s just a day, not an entire season<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mardi Gras is such a popular event across the United States that many commercial festivities refer to the time as a \u201cMardi Gras season\u201d. While the festivities may certainly be similar from day to day, there\u2019s a big difference between Mardi Gras and Carnival.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Carnival refers to the entire period of time between January 6, which is the Feast of the Epiphany, and Ash Wednesday, which is the start of the Christian Lent. Mardi Gras is only the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Mardi Gras is an official holiday\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Making the distinction between Mardi Gras as a day and not a season is especially important in Louisiana. The Bayou State take it so seriously in its culture that Mardi Gras is an official state holiday. When you visit a city like New Orleans during Carnival, don\u2019t be surprised if banks and government offices are closed on Mardi Gras.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

5. The celebration has many names<\/span><\/h3>\n

Whereas Carnival and Mardi Gras are two separate names, the latter can correctly be referred to by many other names. The literal French translation for Mardi Gras is \u201cFat Tuesday\u201d, which is one of its most common names. The day is also referred to as Shrove Tuesday. The week prior to the start of Lent is known as Shrovetide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similarly, since Mardi Gras marks the end of the Carnival season, it\u2019s also called Carnival Tuesday. If you ever celebrate Shrove Tuesday in the UK, you\u2019ll hear it referred to as Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day. There\u2019s not much mystery behind this title: English Christians would make pancakes to use up the last of their perishable goods in preparation for Lent.<\/span><\/p>\n

6. You need to be patient, not lucky, to get the best King Cake in NOLA<\/span><\/h3>\n

Dozens of bakeries in Louisiana cook up king cakes for Carnival season, but according to locals, there\u2019s only one bakery that makes the best: Manny Randazzo\u2019s King Cakes. Located in the Metairie neighborhood of New Orleans, the bakery opens annually in mid-December for Christmas cakes, followed by king cakes beginning on January 3rd. Hungry locals and tourists alike queue up in lines that stretch around the block \u2014 on busier days like weekends, the wait can be 2 to 4 hours long.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

7. One of the most popular king cakes in the country is from a Vietnamese bakery<\/span><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re in the mood for king cakes but aren\u2019t anywhere near The Creole State, many of the iconic bakeries will ship fresh king cakes across the country. One of the most popular is one of the most surprising. Dong Phuong Bakery & Restaurant is a James Beard Award winner that specializes in the sugary staple. It ships thousands of king cakes around the contiguous United States during Carnival season.<\/span><\/p>\n

8. The NBA celebrates Mardi Gras in a slightly terrifying way<\/span><\/h3>\n

If finding a small plastic baby in a king cake is good luck, then the New Orleans Pelicans must assume Carnival season will help them reach the NBA Finals. The official mascot for Louisiana\u2019s basketball team is Pierre the Pelican, though during Carnival, he\u2019s joined by a special guest: the King Cake Baby.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The King Cake Baby isn\u2019t the most adorable mascot in the league; its strange appearance is unlike any other mascot in virtually every other American sports organization. It attends home games throughout Carnival season, including the annual Mardi Gras game that features the Krewe of Pelicans parade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

9. Mardi Gras is an evolution of a Roman celebration<\/span><\/h3>\n

Shrove Tuesday we know it today is best known as a Christian holiday celebrated during the Middle Ages of Europe, but its true history dates all the way back to ancient Rome. Thousands of years ago, the Romans celebrated the coming of spring with their own festivals called Lupercalia and Saturnalia. Christianity evolved these celebrations into festivities of excess just prior to Lent.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Contemporary Mardi Gras still has ancient Roman elements in focus, like the king cake. Beans were originally baked into Roman cakes and whomever found the bean became the \u201cking\u201d for the day. The Christians kept the tradition and applied it to their Twelfth Night, or Three Kings\u2019 Day, holiday which celebrates the three wise men visiting baby Jesus Christ. Today, they\u2019ve swapped the bean for a plastic baby and some insist that whoever finds the baby is the \u201cking\u201d for the year \u2014 which bares the responsibility of buying the king cake for the next year\u2019s festivities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

10. A Krewe is no ordinary club<\/span><\/h3>\n

Forming a Krewe for Mardi Gras \u2014 which is a group that organizes Mardi Gras parades each year \u2014 isn\u2019t as simple as gathering your friends and dressing up on Mardi Gras. There are by-laws for forming Krewes and an expectation that the group can honor the tradition. Most Krewes have a Board of Directors overseeing the Krewe Officers, Krewe Committees, and Krewe Members. Membership requires annual dues that fund the Krewe. All Krewes must also formally register with the Secretary of State of Louisiana. Some of the best known Krewes are Rex<\/a> and the Mistick Krewe of Comus<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

11. A Russian Grand Duke forever changed Louisiana Mardi Gras<\/span><\/h3>\n

In 1872, the Grand Duke Alexis Romanov Alexandrovich visited Louisiana to celebrate Mardi Gras. The Krewe of Rex was founded specifically to honor the visiting Russian royal, and has ever since become known as the ‘King of Carnival’. Every year, the Krewe selects a new King of Rex which is usually someone of importance, to receive a symbolic key to the city of New Orleans.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

12. No Krewe parades in Orleans Parish can be commercialized\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a reason why you\u2019ll never see a Krewe parade sponsored by any corporate sponsorship: it\u2019s against the law in Orleans Parish. The city ordinance ensures that no corporate sponsors can get in on Mardi Gras, requiring that all expenses for the parades are paid by the individual Krewes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

13. Mardi Gras balls are invite only<\/span><\/h3>\n

Most people familiar with Mardi Gras are aware of the iconic parades, but Carnival season has more than one tradition. Mardi Gras balls are also held on Fat Tuesday, and if you\u2019ve never heard of their existence, that\u2019s the point. These elaborate events are almost always invitation-only. If the Krewe putting on the ball has a King and Queen that hid their identities throughout Carnival, the ball serves as the exciting unmasking.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

14. The first Mardi Gras celebration wasn\u2019t in Louisiana<\/span><\/h3>\n

Louisiana is synonymous with Mardi Gras, but the Big Easy can\u2019t claim that it hosted the first Mardi Gras party in North America. That honor belongs across the border in Mobile, Alabama. Mobile is reportedly the oldest Mardi Gras celebration destination in the United States and it began in 1699 when a French-Canadian explorer arrived and threw a party.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

15. There\u2019s a micro parade making its way through New Orleans\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mardi Gras parade floats are extravagant and often larger than life in a literal sense, but there\u2019s one Krewe that\u2019s operating with smaller ambitions in mind. The MicroKrewe is the only one of its kind. Founded in 2009, \u2018tit R\u0259x is the first Krewe that scrapped the giant parade floats and designs floats out of shoeboxes. Though small, these mini floats are just as elaborate and run a full route around Marigny in New Orleans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

16. You can see carnival floats year-round in New Orleans<\/span><\/h3>\n

Visiting New Orleans for Mardi Gras celebrations is an experience like no other, which is why hotel rooms fill up and travel prices skyrocket. But just because the king cake is gone doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t still learn about NOLA\u2019s Carnival celebrations no matter the time of year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mardi Gras World is an attraction in New Orleans that offers a tour of the Blaine Kern Studio that builds Mardi Gras floats. Both self-guided and guided tours are available, and there are special packages that let you and a group make masks or miniature floats.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

17. When is Mardi Gras?<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mardi Gras is always the final Tuesday of the Carnival season. Although Carnival season always begins on the same date, January 6, Fat Tuesday is always the Tuesday that falls 46 days before the Easter holiday. For example, Mardi Gras 2024 is on Tuesday, February 13th. Mardi Gras 2025 will take place on Tuesday, March 4th.<\/span><\/p>\n

18. Where is Mardi Gras celebrated?\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Mardi Gras is celebrated around the world. It\u2019s also known as Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, and Pancake Tuesday. Louisiana cities like New Orleans are among the most popular Mardi Gras celebrations, but festivities take place across the United States, Brazil, and Italy, among other countries.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laissez les bon temps rouler during Mardi Gras this year.\u00a0Carnival season is in full swing around the world from the beginning of January until the start of Lent and one of the most popular aspects of Carnival is Mardi Gras: the final Tuesday of the season. But did you know that there\u2019s an official King […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":889732,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1833,1824,1148,1164],"tags":[334,583,332,333,1818,278],"class_list":["post-889718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-culture","category-history-heritage","category-travel","category-usa-and-canada","tag-carnival","tag-festival","tag-mardi-gras","tag-new-orleans","tag-post-template","tag-usa"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n17 Mardi Gras Facts You Need to Know About - Insight Vacations<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mardi Gras is one of the most colorful, creative, and downright crazy festivals in the USA. 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