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Mardi Gras Costume Party
Ideas: History (French
for "Fat Tuesday") is the day before Ash Wednesday,
and is also called "Shrove Tuesday" or "Pancake
Day". It is the final day of Carnival. It is a
celebration that is held just before the beginning
of the Christian liturgical season of Lent.
 What's the difference between
Mardi Gras and Carnival?
Carnival officially begins in New Orleans on the
Feast of Epiphany, or Twelfth Night - Jan. 6 - and
continues until the midnight of Fat Tuesday - Mardi
Gras - the day before Ash Wednesday.
Mardi Gras Costume Party
Ideas for Men
Although not the first venue to host mardi-gras
celebrations, New Orleans is particularly
well-known, often called "the greatest free show on
earth". The celebrations draw hundreds of thousands
of tourists to the city in addition to the
celebrating locals for the parties and parades. Most
tourists can be found within the French Quarter,
especially Bourbon Street.
 Mardi Gras Costume
Party Ideas for Women
Mardi Gras came to New Orleans with the earliest
French settlers. New Orleans developed new
traditions, including Carnival organizations called
Krewes such as the Krewe du Vieux, the Zulu Social
Aid & Pleasure Club, and the famous Rex parade, in
addition to Mardi Gras Indians and king cake
parties.
Mardi Gras costume
Party Ideas for Kids
There are as many as 60 Krewes that have parades in
the greater New Orleans area. Officially, the Mardi
Gras season begins on the 12th day after Christmas.
Most parades, balls and other festivities occur on
weeknights and weekends in the 2-week period before
Mardi Gras Day. Though each parade is different,
there are certain common ingredients: 1) There is a
king of each Krewe, picked from among the Krewe
membership; 2) gaily colored floats, ridden by
masked and costumed Krewe members, who throw various
items, including beads (necklaces), metal coins
called doubloons bearing the official emblem and
often, that year's parade's grand marshals name, and
assorted other fun items; marching bands from local
high schools and universities, and often other
invited guest bands.
Mardi Gras costume
Party Ideas for Pets
The oldest parading krewes include those of Rex,
"King of the Carnival," who has reigned since 1872,
and Zulu, founded in 1909, both of whom parade for a
half-million or more spectators along a six
mile-long route on Shrove Tuesday morning each year.
Oldest of the night parades is the Krewe of Proteus,
founded in 1882, and which rolls to the light of
old-fashioned flambeaux on Lundi Gras (Fat Monday),
which is the Monday night before Mardi Gras. New
Orleans' parades include anywhere from 14 to 30 or
more floats. "Truck parades" of huge, decorated
trucks often have more than 100 entries. Other
parades are held by "walking clubs," consisting of
maskers promendading to the blare of the city's
famous jazz bands.
Particularly since the inception of the larger
parade organizations (sometimes called "super krewes")
such as Bacchus, Endymion and Orpheus, it has become
fashionable to invite Hollywood and other
celebrities to act as Grand Marshals for parades.
As many as 100,000 Mardi Gras revelers are estimated
to throng Bourbon Street in New Orleans' historic
French Quarter each Fat Tuesday to view often
outrageous costume contests and celebrate until the
stroke of midnight, which signals the end of
Carnival and the beginning of the penitential season
of Lent.
In addition to parades and other public observances,
New Orleans is the scene of exclusive and elaborate
masquerade balls held by most of the parading krewes and other organizations which limit their
activities only to balls. Usually invitation-only
affairs, many of the balls feature the presentation
of the city's debutantes.
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