Take a look: Last day of Mardi Gras now underway in New Orleans
Mardi Gras parades are rolling again, and they’re back and better than ever after a two-year hiatus because of COVID.
Carnival floats and marching bands have been parading up and down the streets of New Orleans since the Mardi Gras season kicked off on King’s Day, January 6.
While it’s just an ordinary Tuesday in most places, in New Orleans, it’s Fat Tuesday!
Mardi Gras Day is the culmination of the two-month carnival season. On Mardi Gras Day alone, more than one million revelers will line the parade routes well before dawn in anticipation of hundreds of decorative floats and scores of marching bands.
Kelly Schulz, senior vice president of New Orleans & Company, joined us today with a look at St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans to give us a look at the last day of Mardis Gras which is currently underway.
Interesting Mardi Gras Facts:
The Krewe of Rex turns 150 this year, the longest parading Mardi Gras organization that parades on Mardi Gras Day. Mardi Gras, which in French means “Fat Tuesday,” has been held in New Orleans since 1837.
Mardi Gras floats first appeared in 1857.
More than 70 parades roll through the streets of New Orleans during Carnival Season with tens of thousands of maskers on board throwing millions of beads and other trinkets. Mardi Gras has been a legal holiday in New Orleans since 1875.
The tradition of throwing items such as beads and trinkets from the floats to parade-goers dates back to Renaissance Europe. In New Orleans, the first person to do so was a Krewe (the name of a carnival organization) member dressed as Santa Claus in the 1880s.
Revelers of all ages are encouraged to join float riders by dressing up and masking on Mardi Gras Day.
Fat Tuesday is celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of the 40-day solemn Lenten season leading up to Easter Sunday.
For more information on Mardi Gras including history and traditions, visit neworleans.com/mardi-gras.