What to know about Carnival celebrations in Louisiana
Carnival season in Louisiana is ramping up as residents across much of the country take down holiday decorations and return to business as usual. In the state, people are preparing for a pre-Lenten stretch of festivities that includes feasting on savory dishes, opulent balls and massive parades rolling through city streets.
Carnival is rooted in Christian and Roman Catholic traditions. It is marked by feasting, drinking and revelry before Ash Wednesday and the fasting associated with Lent, the Christian season of preparation for Easter.
Each year, more than a million visitors travel to New Orleans to take part in the city’s world-famous celebration. But the festivities are not limited to the Big Easy; similar celebrations run across Louisiana and into other Gulf Coast states, including Alabama, where Mobile is described as home to the nation’s oldest Mardi Gras celebration. The AP piece also notes that Carnival celebrations exist internationally, including in Brazil and Europe.
Although people sometimes use the terms “Carnival” and “Mardi Gras” interchangeably, they refer to different periods. Carnival is the entire pre-Lenten period. Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is one day—marking the grand conclusion to Carnival season on the day before Ash Wednesday.
Carnival always begins Jan. 6, which is called Epiphany or Twelfth Night in the Catholic world. Because Mardi Gras is linked to Easter, which does not have a fixed date, it can fall anywhere between Feb. 3 and March 9. This year, Fat Tuesday is on Feb. 17, making Carnival 43 days long.
The start of Carnival is also associated with king cake. The beginning of the season marks when it is socially acceptable—and encouraged—to eat king cake, with lines forming at popular bakeries known for the seasonal pastry. King cake is described as a brioche-style pastry with a ring-shaped sweet-dough form streaked with cinnamon and decorated with icing colored purple, green and gold.
A key part of the tradition involves a tiny plastic baby hidden inside a slice. The person who finds the figurine is supposed to buy the next cake or throw the next party, helping set off what the AP story describes as an unending excuse for another gathering. The cake has also evolved, with variations including versions filled with boudin or made out of sushi rolls.
Carnival is perhaps best known for parades. This season, the AP report says there will be more than 80 parades in and surrounding New Orleans, many lasting for hours. It describes parades as including energetic marching bands, costumed dancers and multi-level floats with fantastical hand-built figures, as well as distinctive parade themes, including an all-female parade and a Sci-Fi themed parade with revelers dressed as Chewbacca.
Float riders and walking members of Carnival clubs, called krewes, spend time and money preparing for the events. Spectators line sidewalks and streets hoping to catch “throws” tossed to the crowd—ranging from plastic beads and candy to doubloons, stuffed animals, cups and toys. The report also lists more coveted throws, including painted coconuts, hand-decorated shoes and bedazzled toilet plungers.
For the largest parade in New Orleans, the AP story says the Endymion krewe estimates it tosses more than 15 million throws along the parade route. It also says Endymion’s motto is “Throw ’til it Hurts.” It adds that Endymion hosts 3,200 riders and more than 80 floats.
Beyond the big parade calendar, the AP piece points to other Carnival traditions in different parts of the state. In central Louisiana, it describes Courir de Mardi Gras—also known as Fat Tuesday Run—as involving masked and costumed participants who beg for ingredients and may chase live chickens to use for a communal gumbo at the end of the day.
In New Orleans, the report says some African Americans mask in elaborate beaded and feathered Mardi Gras Indian suits, roving the city to sing, dance, drum and perform. It describes the tradition as a central part of the Black Carnival experience in New Orleans since at least the late 1800s, and says it is believed to have started partly as a way to pay homage to area Native Americans for their assistance to Black people and runaway slaves. The AP story also says the tradition developed during segregation, when Black residents were barred from taking part in whites-only parades.