A Mardi Gras alternative takes place in southwest Louisiana

Mardi Gras blends pagan celebrations with Christian traditions

The holiday has its roots in pagan celebrations, like ancient Rome's Saturnalian and Lupercalian festivals, which celebrated spring and fertility. Rather than abandoning these traditions, Catholic leaders in Rome incorporated their spirit into a celebration that would expel citizens' debauchery in preparation for the sacrifices they'd endure during the Lenten season. Around the world, this holiday season is called Carnival, though the New Orleans version is usually called Mardi Gras.

'Mardi Gras' is French for 'Fat Tuesday'

Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, requires practicing Catholics to fast. The day before the fast became known as "Fat Tuesday" because it was seen as the last opportunity to indulge before fasting on Ash Wednesday and sacrificing throughout Lent. "Carnival" comes from the Latin for "removal of meat."

A list of Carnival celebrations from around the world

Mardi Gras might be associated with New Orleans, but cities across the globe also celebrate Carnival with similar festivities. This list breaks down nine of the most popular, including masquerade balls in Venice, Creole celebrations in Cape Verde, and the Battle of the Flowers in France.

Mardi Gras has inspired several songs

New Orleans is a historic music town—with deep-rooted jazz, R&B, and blues traditions, to name a few—so it's no surprise that its annual Carnival has led to more than a few Mardi Gras-themed songs through the decades. One of the most famous is Professor Longhair's 1959 track "Go to the Mardi Gras," an upbeat shuffle that's still played at parades today.

New Orleans' Mardi Gras celebration is driven by autonomous 'krewes'

A city ordinance prohibits commercial advertising, and the parade has no central coordinator. Instead, its many activities are organized by individual "krewes"—private clubs of dues-paying members who construct and ride the parades' many colorful floats. The spelling is a faux Old English form of the word "crew," taken from the Mistick Krewe of Comus, who used the stylized language ironically.

The first recorded American Mardi Gras was in Alabama

French explorers observed celebrations in what would become the United States in the late 1600s, but the first recognized modern American Mardi Gras took place in Mobile, Alabama, on New Year's Eve, running from 1830 into 1831. By 1840, the town had incorporated costumes, masks, and themes into its parade. After the Civil War, Mobile's Mardi Gras was moved to the more traditional date of Fat Tuesday. By 1850, a group from Mobile migrated to New Orleans, bringing the city's traditions with it.

Mardi Gras revelers on floats are required to wear masks

Masks are worn to encourage revellers to embrace their wild side without letting their identity get in the way. That's something New Orleans takes seriously: If you're riding on a Mardi Gras float, city law requires that you wear a mask.

During COVID-19, New Orleanians turned their houses into floats

After the 2021 Mardi Gras parades were canceled, New Orleans resident Joy Boudreaux joked on social media that residents should turn their homes into floats. They followed suit and interested (socially distanced) revellers followed maps of participating homes.

King cake is a classic Mardi Gras dessert

One of the signature foods of Mardi Gras is the king cake, a green, gold, and purple-sprinkled desert. Baked inside is a hidden figurine, though some bakers use other objects. Whoever gets the piece with the object is blessed with good luck, though they're also expected to bring a cake to the next gathering.

Despite Hurricane Katrina, Mardi Gras moved forward in 2006

Although the city had been ravaged by the storm in August 2005 and many of its residents had still not returned by Carnival season in 2006, Mardi Gras celebrations still trudged on, with many krewes' floats and costumes satirizing the fallout from the disaster. Below is a picture by photographers Tyrone Turner and Susan Sterner of one attendee sporting a hazard fence dress.

Beads are social currency during Mardi Gras

Historians believe krewes started tossing small items, colloquially called "throws," to onlookers sometime in the 1870s or 1880s. Eventually, shiny beads became the norm and were usually given to those offering something in return. (At times, that meant free booze or the flashing of breasts.) The early strings of beads were glass, though by the 1960s most were plastic.

Louisiana has parishes instead of counties

Louisiana is the only US state that uses parishes rather than counties as its primary local government unit. The distinction traces back to the state's French and Spanish Catholic colonial heritage.

The traditional parade takes place on the first Sunday of the festival

The parade offers a peek into Oktoberfests of yesteryear, from the Münchner Kindl, a beautiful Munich native who opens the parade, to the Goaßlschnalzen, a float full of men cracking whips.

Meat raffles are charitable events popular in the Midwest

The events, which take place at bars, often during sporting events, allow you to buy a ticket (usually for a dollar) and earn the chance to win some uncooked meat to take home and throw on the barbecue.

A photo essay on 'French ring,' the storied sport for disciplined protection dogs

The sport dates back to the 1800s in France and tests canine agility, discipline, and aggression in protection dogs. This photo essay follows Judo de Loucyn, a 72-pound Belgian Malinois, the sport's preferred breed, as he competes in obstacle clearing, long jumps, and obedience and attack drills in the North American Ring Association Western Regional Trial in Arizona.

The marathon was not an event in the ancient form of the Olympics

The ancient Olympics started with just one footrace, a roughly 3-mile jaunt dubbed the "dolichos." Over the centuries, it blossomed into multiple running events, field events, combat sports, and equestrian events—all performed in the nude. This list showcases eight more lesser-known facts about the ancient Games.

Cannes' Sainte-Marguerite was home to the 'Man in the Iron Mask'

Although his identity was never known, the man imprisoned under King Louis XIV and forced to wear a mask—reputedly made of iron, though likely to be velvet—was imprisoned on an island off the coast of Cannes.

The California Burrito is a french-fry filled spin on the Mexican staple

A California Burrito features carne asada and a generous heap of french fries wrapped in a flour tortilla. Its exact origin is unclear, but it's believed to have been invented in the San Diego area sometime in the 1980s.

A Georgia town holds an annual New Year's Eve possum drop

The town of 3,200 residents in the northwestern corner of the state began the quirky event—which lowers a taxidermied possum dangling in the center of a Times Square-esque ball—in the mid-1990s. In 2024, it ranked eighth USA Today’s list of the best New Year’s Eve drops.

The culture shock of flossing in France

Flossing is a typical recommendation from US dentists as a low-risk method of reducing plaque buildup on your teeth. However, in many parts of the world, especially France, the practice is not a cultural norm. This article explores reactions from French natives to the idea of flossing and examines the surprising lack of studies proving (or disproving) the efficacy of using floss.

Day of the Dead poems skewer everyone, living or dead

The tradition of calaveras literarias, or satirical poems about death, dates back to the 20th century. They take aim at everyone, including deceased loved ones, politicians, family and friends.

The 1974 anarchist protest in Denmark that later inspired SantaCon

An interview with one of the participants explains what the performance art group that planned the event was hoping to achieve. Hordes of Santas walking down the street with a giant goose, attacking buildings with backhoes and pickaxes, handing out “presents” stolen from department stores, and eventually being arrested.

A group of daring bootleggers created NASCAR

When Prohibition made alcohol illegal in 1920, it didn’t stop Americans from making and consuming it. The law drove the practice underground. Runners risked their lives to deliver moonshine and began racing among themselves.

Louisiana's 'Cancer Alley' is infamous for having some of the highest industrial pollution, toxic air emissions, and cancer risks in the US.

What do the Lascaux cave paintings look like?

The Lascaux cave paintings, initially discovered in 1940, hold a special place in the hearts of archaeologists and art historians alike. Examine the Paleolithic art in this virtual tour that takes users through the different segments of the cave and...

'Mystery hikes' were a popular attraction in the 1930s

Still reeling from the Great Depression, many Americans were looking for low-cost (or free) activities. Some travel agencies curated "mystery hikes," which offered intrepid amblers the opportunity to be set on a blind adventure.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Graffiti dates back to at least ancient Pompeii, where citizens scrawled messages to one another on public walls

In preparation for this weekend's Eurovision finale, which is something like the World Cup of pop music, here's a young Céline Dion performing (for Switzerland?) at the 1988 competition.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

During the French Revolution, a botanist's letter asking about "dear Rhus" (poison ivy) was intercepted, leading authorities to suspect he was conspiring with the Russians.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

'Silent' fireworks have gained more interest in recent years as a quieter celebratory option.

When caught in the mouths of cardinal fish, seed shrimp release glowing, bioluminescent chemicals, which alert predators of the cardinal fish, prompting the shrimp's ejection.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by more than 1.5 million Muslims each year.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

The word 'jazz' evolved from 'jasm,' 19th-century American slang for 'energy'

Venture capital is a form of funding provided to early-stage companies with high growth potential, typically in exchange for an equity (or ownership) stake