Mardi Gras: History And Modern Celebration

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Introduction

As Mark Twain once said, an American has not seen the united states until he has seen Mardi Gras. This statement might seem like an exaggeration but people from all over the world come to see this time honored tradition come to life.

Mardi Gras, carnival, or Fat Tuesday is known to be a huge party filled with debaturary and drunkenness. But those who have actually attended it know that it more of a celebration of life with traditions and events passed down from generation to generation.

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History

Mardi Gras is a holiday that dates back thousand of years to the pagan celebrations of spring and fertility. It is the prelude to lent, which is the 40 days of spiritual fasting between Ash Wednesday and Easter. French explorers are the ones who brought the celebration first to the states. Then Spanish governors took control and had banned these festivities. But years later, the French brought Mardi Gras back to the city of New Orleans for good .

In order to preserve the festivities, a secret society of men called The Mystic Krewe Of Comus took over where they planned the first official Mardi Gras parade in 1857 to show off their organization and power

Traditions

One thing Mardi Gras is known for are different parades and beads thrown. Behind each parade there is a different krewe. These social organizations work all years to plan out different balls and parades. These crews date back to the mid nineteenth century. The Mystic Krewe Of Comus was the first secret society to host a parade. Now, many different parade krewes exist, and oftentimes a krewe will feature a celebrity rider as the king or queen of the parade that year. With each krewes parade having its own separate theme and story.

The colors of Mardi Gras are purple, gold, and green and are seen everywhere wherever Mardi Gras festivals are. But these colors have a meaning, starting from the Krewe of Rex during their parade in 1892 which they threw out these different colored beads. Purple here stands for justice, green represents faith, and gold symbolizes power. They are also thought to resemble each of these can be seen on builds, clothing, and are still used today.

Another famous tradition is the king cake. This cake is an oval shaped delicacy and is thought to be a cross between a french pastry and coffee cake . It is decorated in the Mardi Gras royal colors of purple, gold, and green. A tiny plastic baby is hidden inside which may seem odd but it symbolizes when Jesus showed himself to the three wisemen. As a symbol of this holy day, a tiny plastic baby is hidden inside each king cake and the tradition goes that when the cake is served, whoever has the piece containing the baby they are named king for the day and that same person who has the special piece is supposed to host the next party and provide the king cake.

What it looks like today

Mardi Gras today is still know for the food, events, and parades. About 1.2 million people visit and celebrate it each year. in new orleans it is one of the biggest celebrations in the world. With people coming from all over the world it gives New Orleans a national stage through Mardi Gras to show the community and history within the United States.

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