The Carnival Season

" Committed to making the Mardi Gras Industry........Viable as well as fun! "

Basic 101 Part III: The Carnival Season!

Carnival is the name used for the entire festival season. However it must be understood that the real meaning of Carnival given by the catholic church, is the three days before Ash Wednesday, also known as Shrovetide ("shrove" is an Old English word meaning "to repent"). The Tuesday just before Ash Wednesday is called Shrove Tuesday, or is more popularly known by the French term Mardi Gras, meaning "Fat Tuesday," contrasting to the fasting during Lent. The entire three day period has now come to be known in many areas as Mardi Gras or the season of Carnival.

In the industry Carnival season formally begins on January 6th, on each year and ends on Mardi Gras Day. This date is also known as the Epiphany, which is the climax of the Christmas Season and also a part of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Those days are counted from December 25th until January 5th. The day before Epiphany is the twelfth day of Christmas, and that night is sometimes called Twelfth Night, which is an occasion for feasting in some cultures. In some cultures, and the southern U.S., the baking of a special King's Cake is part of the festivities of Epiphany (a King's Cake is part of the observance of Mardi Gras in French Catholic culture of the Southern USA).

So please remember, Carnival refers to the season, which lasts from January 06, each year to Mardi Gras Day. The last day of the season is called, "Mardi Gras day" and this date moves from year to year, because of the method by which it is calculated.

Also because of the movement of the date, the season can have a minimum of 27days in the season to as many as 68 days! Some of the rerest dates are February 3rd, 4th, and 5th on the early side. On the latest side of the Calendar are March 7th, 8th, and 9th!

The Catholic Church several centuries ago, established a fixed date for Christmas, but moveable dates for other religious holidays. Easter is set to coincide with the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the Spring Equinox. Easter can fall on any Sunday, between March 23 and April 25. Mardi Gras is then scheduled 47 days before Easter and can occur on any Tuesday from February 3 through March 9. The March 9th and Feb 3rd dates are extra special, because those dates only once in a lifetime, each occurring roughly once every 100 to 150 years. The next date of March 9th is the year, 2038. The closest many of us will see the Holiday to that date, in our lifetime, was 2000, and will hopefully again in 2011, when Mardi Gras will occur on March 8th. On the other end of the spectrum, none of us will see the next February 3rd date which is 2285., Feb 5 is the earliest this century, which occurs in 2008, the next one this early is 2160.