If there’s one city in the U.S. that is most strongly associated with a holiday, it is New Orleans with Mardi Gras. The two are near-synonymous, and every year brings a massive celebration to the city that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors. As we enter the end of February, Mardi Gras is right around the corner. This year is set to bring a spectacular festival that showcases why New Orleans’s Mardi Gras is a defining holiday event.
Traditionally, Mardi Gras is a Christian celebration that leads up to Ash Wednesday, but it is enjoyed by people of all backgrounds. It is a time when people are meant to gorge themselves and eat sweet foods before Lent kicks off. It is celebrated in different ways everywhere around the world, but in New Orleans, Mardi Gras brings a packed calendar of parades and carnivals from different krewes around the city.
The krewes are groups that stage the events of Mardi Gras, committed to keeping the traditions and spirit of this great celebration alive. They create different costumes, plan elaborate parades, and ensure Mardi Gras remains a colorful, exciting event that is fun for the whole family. Parades and various events occur throughout New Orleans, from Uptown to the French Quarter, for more than a month in what is known as Carnival season. Twelfth Night marks the first parade, which always begins on January 6th in NOLA, and the final parade is on February 26th.
Carnival season culminates on Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras Day, which falls on February 21st this year. Nine different krewes will be throwing massive parades around the city, with the first starting in Uptown at 8 a.m. The biggest krewes will have massive floats and elaborate costumes, and will fill the streets of New Orleans with colors. Not to be forgotten are the throws—items that krewe members throw into the crowd, including beads, toys, and trinkets.
Everyone, from revelers to families, can enjoy Mardi Gras and all of its festivities. Bourbon Street is filled with rowdy celebrations, including plenty of drinking and frenetic energy. But Mardi Gras is a citywide event, and enjoying the parades and delicious treats, such as king cake, pecan pralines, and beignets, is something that families and people of all ages can appreciate.
