2. “Mardi Gras”
Probably… the best
English Speaking
Carnival in the world!!
3. What is it?
• Mardi Gras is the name of the Carnival in New
Orleans.
• It is a French expresion that means: “Fat Tuesday”
• We speak of “Carne” for “Carnaval”
• They speak of “Fat”, but the idea is just the same.
4. Where and When?...
• The Mardi Gras carnival is celebrated in New
Orleans, Lousiana and Mobile, Alabama.
• It takes place the Day before Ash Wednesday
5. Tradition
• “Mardi Gras” has been celebrated since 1699
.In that year, the French conquered louisiana.
• It is based on european carnival tradition,
specially French, Spanish and British.
…Apart from the
Afro American,
Creole and Cajoun
influence
6. Culture Mix • “Creole”: Creole
people descend from
Spanish and French
settlers before the
USA bought Louisiana
at the beginning of
the XIX Century.
• There are also
“Creoles of color”,
who have an
Afroamerican and
Native American
Origin.
• “Cajun”: These were
people from French
Canada (Acadians)
who were exiled and
relocated in South
Louisiana.
7. Food! • Mardi Gras is a festival for eating:
When Lent comes, meat and fat are
forbidden in the Christian Tradition.
• Some popular dishes are:
• Popeye’s Fried Chichen: Spicy
hot.
• Gumbo: Made from chicken, pork
sausage, rice, shrimp, okra, celery
and other vegetables.
• King Cake: Twisted bread topped
with icing or sugar with the
traditional carnival colorspurple,
green and gold.
…Guess which is which?
8. Music!
Saying New Orleans is talking about Jazz Music!
•Some typical Mardi Gras Tunes Are:
•Carnival Time (By Al Johnson)
•Second Line (Stop Inc)
•Iko Iko (Dixie Cups)
9. Costumes
• Mardi Gras costumes usually take the form of
jesters and other fantasy characters.
• The traditional colors are:
• purple (representing justice)
• green (associated with faith)
• gold (which implies power).
10. Parades! • “Mardi Gras” celebrations
go on day and night but
they start one week before.
• The associations that build
the floats and prepare the
parades are called
“Krewes”.
• There are two traditional
krewes :
• Zulu club (Mostly
black)
• Rex club (Mostly
white)
• They are rivals and make
parodies of each other at
the parades.
11. Balls!
·The King and Queen work all year for the big
spectacular ball. Their identity is a closely
guarded secret.
· Most of the balls are a
formal and private
for the Krewe.
· Components are introduced
at the Ball Tableau as a
Formal introduction to
society.
12. Curious Facts
• People throw lots of
multi-colored strings
of beads during the
parades.
• Inside the King Cake (a
coffee cake) you can
find a plastic baby
which represents
fortune.
• There is a “Theme” for
every edition of Mardi
Gras.
13. Don’t Miss it!!
Ask a local!
-Arthur recommends…
…Watching the Endymion and
Orpheus Parades.
-They are New Orleans´ biggest
parades with 30 floats each
and various celebrity guests.
