Mardi Gras… all parades lead to Easter?
March 2025
Feature Article
Mardi Gras… all parades lead to Easter?
By Patti Klinge
New Orleans’ Mardi Gras festival has been in full swing since Jan. 6 with revelers whooping it up ahead of the Lenten season, which is just weeks away.
The Louisiana city’s final celebration takes place March 4 on Fat Tuesday. The day before the start of Lent is filled with parties and celebrations throughout the U.S., and even in many other cities around the world.
Mardi Gras is rooted in the traditions of various cultures before the solemn season of Lent.
Mardi Gras season began Jan. 6, the Epiphany, but its duration changes each year based on Easter. It always ends on Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the start of Lent.
Fat Tuesday this year falls on March 4. Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday,” according to Merriam-Webster.
Historically, on Mardi Gras, people were meant to use “all the fats in the home before Lent in preparation for fasting and abstinence,” Britannica reports. Christians would consume rich, fatty foods, such as meat, eggs and cheese, before the period of Lenten fasting, according to the History Channel.
The first Mardi Gras festival in what is now the U.S. may have taken place on March 3, 1699, where New Orleans was founded, Mardi Gras New Orleans says, but other think it began in 1703 in Mobile, AL.
Catholics also call Fat Tuesday Shrove Tuesday or Shrovetide, the conclusion to Ordinary Time.
Famously, Brazilians and Venetians celebrate the holiday with parades, masks and costumes. In both Italy and Brazil, the festival is known as “Carnival.”
Revelers celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans, LA. (Image courtesy of Wikipedia)
Ash Wednesday is the first day of the liturgical season of Lent that falls 6½ weeks before Easter each year.
Members of the Catholic Church, ages 18 to 59, are required to observe Lent and fast on Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are known as obligatory days of abstinence. Children 14 and older are expected to abstain from meat.
The observance of Ash Wednesday dates to the 11th century, according to the Vatican, but the tradition of marking one’s forehead with ashes is rooted in the ancient Hebrew custom of “clothing oneself in sackcloth and dusting oneself with ashes as a sign of penance,” according to Hallow, an app for Catholic prayer and meditation.
Many revelers wear purple, green and gold, the traditional colors of Mardi Gras. Others go all out, dressing in costume for parades and other festivities.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: “Fat Tuesday marks the end of Mardi Gras season and leads into Lent,” by Jalen Williams, Olivia Munson and Anthony Robledo.
For more about Mardi Gras history, go to Wikipedia.org and search on “MardiGrasInNewOrleans.”
Liberty, MO’s Clay County Museum: historic treasures hiding in plain sight
February 2025Feature Article Liberty, MO’s Clay County Museum: historic treasures hiding in plain sight By Ken Weyand Most visitors to the Historic Square in Liberty, MO, walk past the old museum building at 14 Main St., unaware of the treasures of local...
Hayrides are a treasured autumn tradition
September 2024 Feature Article Hayrides are a Treasured Autumn Tradition By Corbin Crable The hayride is a fun autumn activity to enjoy with your family or a group of friends, allowing you to enjoy the countryside, the changing colors of the leaves on...
Belton’s Whistle Stop Antiques – 14 successful years – “It all boils down to the people”
July 2024Feature Article Belton’s Whistle Stop Antiques - 14 successful years - “It all boils down to the people” By Corbin Crable Sally Smith had lunch in Belton, MO, nearly 14 years ago and stopped by a flea market to ask about renting a 10’x10’ space....
Running Rabbit Antiques celebrates store expansion
May 2024Feature Article Running Rabbit Antiques celebrates store expansion By Corbin Crable Luckily for antiques lovers in Higginsville, Sandy Wescott has always dreamed big. Now, the store she opened on the town’s main drag 16 years ago is growing to...
Augusta’s Paramount East Antique Mall will close at end of April
April 2024Feature Article Augusta’s Paramount East Antique Mall will close at end of April By Corbin Crable Cynthia Branch, one of the owners of Paramount stores in Wichita and Augusta, announced on Jan. 30 that after 12 years of business, the difficult...
Lots of familiar faces at Greenwood’s Vintage Vault
February 2024Feature Article Lots of familiar faces at Greenwood’s Vintage Vault By Corbin Crable Don’t be surprised if you walk into The Vintage Vault in Greenwood, MO, and see a few familiar faces. The antique and vintage store, which opened Nov. 1,...
A tisket, a tasket – the story of Easter baskets
March 2022Feature ArticleA tisket, a tasket – the story of Easter basketsby Corbin Crable Easter baskets Easter baskets are synonymous with the annual holiday, but they’re much more than just chocolate, colorful eggs, and plastic blades of grass. According to...
Masks bring touches of playfulness, color to Mardi Gras
March 2022Feature ArticleMasks bring touches of playfulness, color to Mardi Grasby Corbin Crable Mardi Gras celebrations One of the most widely-recognized traditions of Mardi Gras celebrations – that of wearing masks and costumes during celebrations – is also...
Conversation Hearts tell story of a divisive candy
February 2022Feature ArticleConversation Hearts tell story of a divisive candyby Corbin Crable Valentine’s Day candy If you had to think of the most iconic Valentine’s Day candy, it’s likely that those chalky, pastel-colored conversation hearts would come to...
Power up: Video game consoles remain beloved collectibles for Generation X
JANUARY 2022Feature ARTIclePower up: Video game consoles remain beloved collectibles for Generation Xby Corbin Crable Though the technology had been around since the 1950s, the ‘Me’ Decade of the 1970s finally saw video game consoles introduced to American...
Handmade and from the Heart
December 2021Feature ArticleHandmade and from the Heartby Corbin Crable Main Street in Greenwood, MO, is bustling today, a cold Saturday morning in mid-November, with the chatter of antique shoppers slicing through the chilly air as they head into the Greenwood...