Family Friendly Mardi Gras tips (on site) Beyond the crazy masks and beads, few people know what Mardi Gras is all about. Mardi Gras is actually French for “Fat Tuesday” which refers to the practice of feasting one last time before fasting and begins on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras history actually dates back thousands of years to the Roman festivals and celebrations of Spring and fertility and is currently celebrated in Roman-Catholic countries all around the world. The celebration was the precursor to Lent, so people wanted to celebrate and live it up before fasting began. The traditional Mardi Gras colors, purple, green, and gold, originated from the Catholic Church and continue to hold meaning today. Today, in America, we celebrate Mardi Gras slightly differently than the traditional Roman Catholics did (they probably had different stakes for earning beads…). Where do these new traditions come from? At the Mardi Gras celebration in New Orleans in 1827, students paraded and danced through the streets in costumes, which was meant to mimic performances they had observed in Paris. 10 years later, the first parade took place, and has continued to this day. At subsequent parades, the “krewes” or carnival organizations that ran the Mardi Gras festival introduced the ideas of “throws” by tossing out inexpensive glass beads an necklaces– thus, the tradition of the beads was born.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Mar 2014 10:06:33 +0000
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