Mardi Gras in New Orleans / Krewe of Second Born
by Elizabeth McTaggart
Title
Mardi Gras in New Orleans / Krewe of Second Born
Artist
Elizabeth McTaggart
Medium
Digital Art - Fractal Art
Description
Mardi Gras in New Orleans / Krewe of Second Born
Mardi Gras (French pronunciation: [maʁ.di ɡʁa]; English pronunciation: /ˈmɑɹdi ˈgɹɑː/; meaning "Fat Tuesday") is an annual Carnival celebration held in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
The New Orleans Carnival season, with roots in preparing for the start of the Christian season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany (January 6). It is a season of parades, balls (some of them masquerade balls), and king cake parties. It has traditionally been part of the winter social season; at one time "coming out" parties for young women at d�tante balls were timed for this season.
Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), the day before Ash Wednesday. Usually there is one major parade each day (weather permitting); many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the season. In the final week of Carnival, many events large and small occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities. Neighboring Jefferson Parish holds an event called Family Gras which is more appropriate for families with children, or people that wish to avoid the more adult celebration in the French Quarter.
The parades in New Orleans are organized by Carnival krewes. Krewe float riders toss throws to the crowds; the most common throws are strings of plastic colorful beads, doubloons (aluminum or wooden dollar-sized coins usually impressed with a krewe logo), decorated plastic throw cups, and small inexpensive toys. Major krewes follow the same parade schedule and route each year.
While many tourists center their Mardi Gras season activities on Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, none of the major Mardi Gras parades has entered the Quarter since 1972 because of its narrow streets and overhead obstructions. Instead, major parades originate in the Uptown and Mid-City districts and follow a route along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street, on the upriver side of the French Quarter. Exposing body parts, or "flashing",in an effort to catch more beads or throws, is frowned up by the police department and can be grounds for a ticket or an arrest. However, it is a growing trend for uninhibited, mostly younger women to show their breasts, centered in New Orleans and echoed in smaller celebrations in such places as Austin, Texas.
To New Orleanians, "Mardi Gras" specifically refers to the Tuesday before lent, the highlight of the season. The term can also be used less specifically the whole Carnival season, sometimes as "the Mardi Gras season". The term "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras Day" always refers only to that specific day.
[source: Wikipedia]
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February 9th, 2013
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