Mardi Gras

The end of February rolls around and with it comes Mardi Gras - when translated from French means literally "Fat Tuesday". In the UK, we call this day (the day before Ash Wednesday) Shrove Tuesday or, more commonly, Pancake Day. In the Christian faith, this is the day before Lent - the 40 days that represents Jesus' time in the wilderness and a traditional time to fast, or these days, give up something. Thus, pancakes were a way of emptying out flour, milk and eggs from the pantry. Anyway, over here in the US, Mardi Gras is typically associated with New Orleans - and despite the effect of Hurricane Katrina last September, the city is determined to have a good party anyway - and, y'know, why the hell not?

Mardi Gras came to New Orleans through its French heritage with early explorers celebrating the French Holiday on the banks of the Mississippi River in 1699. The date itself depends on the lunar calendar and is always 47 days before Easter, and over the years, the New Orlean folk have added to the occasion with carnivals and parades. The offical colours for Mardi Gras were chosen in 1872 by Rex, the King of the Carnival that year and are Purple, Gold and Green - standing for justice, power and faith respectively. It may surprise you to know (as it did me) that the season actually begins way back on January 6th - Twelfth Night - and my workmate Kellie - who is originally from the New Orleans area and lived there for some time - tells me that the parties start from then and basically get bigger and louder, and more fun until the peak on Mardi Gras itself. Sounds good to me. It's also reassuring to here that, whilst Katrina may have damaged a lot of the structure of New Orleans, the heart and spirit are resoundingly intact.