Mardi Gras Celebration
What is Mardi Gras?
The Catholic Carnival “Boeuf Graf” or Fatted Calf starts on the twelfth night of Christmas or the “Epiphany,” January 6 and continues through Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday.” The following day, Ash Wednesday, the traditional Lenten season begins and marks the start of not consuming any rich foods. For 40 days, you cannot eat eggs, meats, or butter until Easter Sunday. On Ash Wednesday, the parishioners go to church for a blessing, and the priest puts a thumbprint of ash on your forehead.
Jambalaya and gumbo were two recipes that encompass numerous vegetables and various meats, allowing for bountiful dishes to serve crowds. King cake is a decadent pastry that uses up more ingredients, and pecan pralines and pancakes help use up the sweet side of the pantry.
King Cake
Be careful — it can change your luck and finances! The King cake is a ring pastry that is similar to a cinnamon bread with pockets filled of pastry crème. The cake is then stuffed with small trinkets, such as a small baby. Tradition dictates that whoever gets the baby will be lucky and have good fortune, making them next year’s King and resulting in them financing next year’s party.
Meaning of the Colors
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Purple: regal, sovereignty, and justice
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Gold: power, wisdom, and wealth
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Green: faith and loyalty in love
The colors of Mardi Gras — purple, green, and gold — can be found as early as 1872 at a carnival organized by the company Rex for a Russian aristocrat’s arrival. Rex has held parades in New Orleans for 148 years and continues to be its most prominent parade organizer to date. Rex founders wanted the colors for a flag to represent heraldry meanings so had balconies draped with three colored cloths. The flag’s three colors would be like the tricolors in the flags of the United States, France, and Great Britain.
According to legend, “Mardi Gras colors influenced the choice of school colors for archrivals Louisiana State University and Tulane University. When LSU was deciding on its colors, the shops in New Orleans had stocked up on purple, green, and gold material for the Mardi Gras season. LSU decided upon purple and gold, and bought much of it. Tulane bought much of the only remaining color — green!” (Sensational Color).
Mardi Gras's Latest Cancellation
When was the last time Mardi Gras was cancelled? Was it in 1992, when the New Orleans City Council passed their anti-discrimination ordinance, requiring krewes to admit members without regard to race, sex, national origin, creed, sexual orientation, age, or disability? Nope, only two krewes halted their parade over this.
Was it in 2006, when the city was still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina in 2005? Nope, the city showed their resilience that year. While the Carnival was smaller, balls were held and parades rolled, and for a moment, people can dance their worries away.
On November 17, 2020, the City of New Orleans announced that no parades would roll for Mardi Gras 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, if the history of canceled Carnival has shown us anything, it’s that Mardi Gras is more than just big parades and fancy balls. It might decrease dramatically in scale, but the people of New Orleans will always find a way to celebrate — safely.