New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras, the extravagant end to Carnival season
NEW ORLEANS, La. (AP) — As people return to work Tuesday after a long holiday weekend, beads will fly, crawfish will boil, and parades will roll in New Orleans to commemorate Mardi Gras.
Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is the culmination and finish of the weeks-long Carnival season, providing one last opportunity for indulgence, feasting, and revelry before the Christian Lent period of sacrifice and reflection.
The joyful farewell to Carnival always occurs the day before Ash Wednesday.
One of the final parades in Louisiana’s most populous city, which is famous for its Mardi Gras celebration, is organized by the Zulu Social Aide & Pleasure Club.
Marchers and float riders in the Zulu parade dress in African-inspired attire and chuck “throws”—gifts such as plastic beads, candies, doubloons, stuffed animals, cups, and toys.
The parade’s distinctive “throw” is hand-decorated coconuts, which are much sought after by many attendees.
Later in the day, Rex, the King of Carnival, will parade down St. Charles Avenue, flanked by paradegoers and magnificent oak trees draped in Spanish moss and beads.
Carnival events are known for their spectacular and massive floats, as well as the intricately crafted outfits worn by participants, such as Black masking Indians, whose beaded and bejeweled costumes are topped with feathered headdresses, or paradegoers walking through the French Quarter in homemade costumes that capture the unique spirit of the Big Easy.
The good times will roll not only in New Orleans but throughout the state, from exclusive balls to the Cajun French tradition of the Courir de Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday Run, a rural event in Central Louisiana where costumed participants perform, beg for ingredients, and chase after live chickens to be cooked in a communal gumbo.
Other Gulf Coast communities, including Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida, hold parades, while Brazil and Europe host world-renowned celebrations as well.