Your Carnival information resource

Other FAQs |   What's a Krewe?  |   What's the History of ....?  |  Carnival Terms  | 

What is Mardi Gras ?

Mardi Gras (French for: Fat Tuesday), or Shrove Tuesday ( UK ), is the last day, of the period Known as the Festival of Carnival. Carnival occurs between January 6th, each year and ends on Ash Wednesday, which marks the arrival of the fasting days of Lent. The name, Mardi Gras, has come, (incorrectly) to represent the entire carnival period. It is a day that has a moving or different date, each and every year. If you would like to know how to find the dates of Mardi Gras click here.

Mardi Gras goes back several centuries to when the Catholic Church 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 occurred in 2008, the next one this early is 2160.

What exactly is  Carnival    or    Mardi Gras   celebrating?