Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras (UK: , US: ; also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being the last day of consuming rich, fatty foods, most notably red meat, in preparation for the Christian fasting season of Lent, during which such foods are avoided.

Related popular practices are associated with Carnival celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. In countries such as the United Kingdom, Mardi Gras is more usually known as Pancake Day or (traditionally) Shrove Tuesday, derived from the word shrive, meaning "to administer the sacrament of confession to; to absolve".

Background

During the liturgical season of Lent, some Christians abstain from the consumption of certain foods such as meat, eggs, dairy products, and alcoholic beverages. Most Christian denominations observe the tradition of Lent; exceptions include many churches within the Anabaptist, Baptist, Methodist, and Reformed traditions. Shrovetide provided Christians with the opportunity to use up these foods prior to the start of the 40-day fasting season of Lent.

Prior to the 6th century, Lent was normatively observed through the practice of the Black Fast, which enjoins fasting from food and liquids, with the allowance of one vegetarian meal and water after sunset. The tradition of pancake breakfasts during Shrovetide, as well as that of pancake races, owes itself to this practice of "using up the surplus eggs, milk and butter" prior to Lent.

The specific tradition of eating pancakes is said to have roots in Slavic paganism, with this practice being co-opted into Christian ritual. Specifically the pancake was said to symbolise the returning of the sun as spring approached.

In many Christian parish churches, both Protestant and Roman Catholic, a popular Shrove Tuesday tradition is the ringing of the church bells (on this day, the toll is known as the Shriving Bell) "to call the faithful to confession before the solemn season of Lent" and for people to "begin frying their pancakes". As such, a hallmark of Shrovetide is the opportunity for a last round of merrymaking associated with Mardis Gras before the start of the somber Lenten season. The last day of Shrovetide, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), is named as such "because people felt bloated having eaten up all the rich foods before Lent" in order to prepare for the coming season of repentance.

Traditions

The festival season varies from city to city; Mardis Gras often refers to the last day of Shrovetide (or Fastelavn or Carnival), thus being synonymous with Shrove Tuesday. Some traditions, such as the one in New Orleans, Louisiana, consider Mardi Gras to stretch the entire period from Twelfth Night (the last night of Christmas which begins Epiphany) to Ash Wednesday. Others treat the final three-day period before Ash Wednesday as the Mardi Gras.

In Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras–associated social events begin in November, followed by mystic society balls New Year's Eve, followed by parades and balls in January and February, celebrating up to midnight before Ash Wednesday. In earlier times, parades were held on New Year's Day. Carnival (or Fastelavn or Shrovetide) is an important celebration in Lutheran, Anglican and Catholic European nations.

Belgium

The three-day Carnival of Binche, near Mons, is one of the best known in Belgium. It takes place around Shrove Tuesday (or Mardi Gras) just before Lent. Performers known as Gilles wear elaborate costumes in the national colours of red, black and yellow. During the parade, they throw oranges at the crowd. In 2003, it was recognized by UNESCO as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Czech Republic

In the Czech Republic, it is a folk tradition to celebrate Mardi Gras, which is called Masopust (meat-fast, i.e. beginning of the fast there). There are celebrations in many places including Prague, but the tradition also prevails in villages such as Staré Hamry, whose door-to-door processions made it to the UNESCO World Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

Germany

The celebration on the same day in Germany knows many different terms, depending on the region, such as Fastnacht, meaning the eve of the fast that takes place during Lent, or Veilchensdienstag (Violet Tuesday), as it is called in the Lower Rhine region. The celebrations often stretch from Epiphany, known in sections of Germany as Heilige Drei Könige, through the night before Ash Wednesday, and is variously known by different names, such as Karneval or Fasching in Germany, Austria and German-speaking areas of Switzerland. It is also often referred to as the "fifth season", which traditionally begins with Hoppeditz Erwachen (the waking of Hoppeditz, the Fool who embodies the Karneval season) on 11 November at 11:11 AM (11/11 11:11). and ends with his comic funeral mass on Fastnacht.

Karneval is filled with large banquets held by the various organizing societies and generally comes to a climax beginning on what is variously known as Schmutziger Donnerstag or Fetter Donnerstag (Fat Thursday), Unsinniger Donnerstag (Nonsense Thursday), Altweiberfastnacht, Greesentag and others. In standard German, schmutzig means "dirty", but in the Alemannic dialects schmotzig means "lard" (Schmalz), or "fat"; thus "Greasy Thursday", as remaining winter stores of lard and butter used to be consumed at that time, before the fasting began. Altweiberfastnacht often featured women wearing men's clothing and assuming their roles. In many towns across the state of North Rhine Westphalia, a ritual "takeover" of the town halls by local women has become tradition.

Italy

In Italy Mardi Gras is called Martedì Grasso (Fat Tuesday). It is the main day of Carnival along with the Thursday before, called Giovedí Grasso (Fat Thursday), which ratifies the start of the celebrations. The most famous Carnivals in northern Italy are in Venice, Viareggio and Ivrea, while in the southern part of Italy the Sardinian Sartiglia and the intriguing apotropaic masks, especially the mamuthones, issohadores, s'urtzu (and so on), are more popular, belonging to a very ancient tradition. Ivrea has the characteristic "Battle of Oranges" that finds its roots in medieval times. The Italian version of the festival is spelled Carnevale.

Sweden

In Sweden the celebration is called Fettisdagen, when fastlagsbulle is eaten, more commonly called Semla. The name comes from the words "fett" (fat) and "tisdag" (Tuesday). Originally, this was the only day one should eat fastlagsbullar.

United Kingdom

See Shrove Tuesday.

United States

While not observed nationally throughout the United States, a number of historically ethnically French cities and regions in the country have notable celebrations. Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiane, which included what are now the U.S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and part of eastern Texas.

The expedition, led by Iberville, entered the mouth of the Mississippi River on the evening of 2 March 1699 (new style), Lundi Gras. They did not yet know it was the river explored and claimed for France by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle in 1683. The party proceeded upstream to a place on the east bank about 60 miles (100 km) downriver from where New Orleans is today, and made camp. This was on 3 March 1699, Mardi Gras, so in honour of this holiday, Iberville named the spot Point du Mardi Gras (French: "Mardi Gras Point") and called the nearby tributary Bayou Mardi Gras.

Bienville went on to found the settlement of Mobile (now in Alabama) in 1702 as the first capital of French Louisiana. In 1703 French settlers in Mobile established the first organised Mardi Gras celebration tradition in what was to become the United States. The first informal mystic society, or krewe, was formed in Mobile in 1711, the Boeuf Gras Society. Then came the Striker's Independent Society in 1842, followed by the oldest parading mystic society the Order of Myths or "OOMs" in 1867.

In 1720, Biloxi had been made capital of Louisiana. The French Mardi Gras customs had accompanied the colonists who settled there.

In 1723, the capital of Louisiana was moved to New Orleans, founded in 1718. The first Mardi Gras parade held in New Orleans is recorded to have taken place in 1833 with Bernard de Marigny funding the first organized parade, tableau, and ball. The tradition in New Orleans expanded to the point that it became synonymous with the city in popular perception, and embraced by residents of New Orleans beyond those of French or Catholic heritage. Mardi Gras celebrations are part of the basis of the slogan Laissez les bons temps rouler ("Let the good times roll"), as floats "roll".