Do you know why we celebrate Mardi Gras? Find out how this religious holiday became one of the biggest party celebrations of the year!
I admire all of the wonderful religious holidays around the world, and it’s amazing to see them transform from region to region. Mardi Gras is a special holiday filled with fun and excitement of all kinds, but you might be surprised to learn it didn’t start this way.
Originally, Mardi Gras was based on the religious holiday Shrove Tuesday.
Shrove is a word derived from the English word, shrive, which means to confess your sins or to be absolved from your sins. Shrove Tuesday was always celebrated by eating to your heart’s content, and over time, became today’s Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday!
Mardi Gras is celebrated all over the world including in the United States, Belgium, Germany, Puerto Rico and Sweden. In some places, Mardi Gras is a festival celebration that can span weeks, while in other places it’s a single day of celebration. Christian roots such as Jesus’s Baptism or Three Kings Day determine when the celebration should begin.
The timing of Mardi Gras is immediately before Lent so that worshippers can indulge before Ash Wednesday when fasting starts.
In New Orleans, Americans have rooted this holiday in ethnic French regions dating back to Catholic traditions of the 17th century. Activities such as bead throwing caught on in the 19th century, and was first meant to symbolize if the celebrator wore purple for justice, gold for power, or green for faith.
New traditions have been added to this celebration for masquerades, parades, king cakes, and music. New Orleans is the birthplace of jazz, but this holiday has brought so many cultural flavors into the celebration to include zydeco, blues, and whole marching bands. Brass instruments like the saxophone and trumpet are easy to spot, but so are torch throwers and street performers.
Mardi Gras is a fantastic tradition that has grown to include all kinds of festivities.
How to do you celebrate Mardi Gras? Tell us in the comments below!