Mardis Gras

Asking if you have ever heard of Mardis Gras is probably like asking if you have a pulse, but you may not know everything about what may be the biggest party in the world. So, let me give you some facts. This celebration is centered around the pre-Easter season. So, the date changes every year.   Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, and is always celebrated the day before Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent, and for New Orleans' Catholics, that means a time of sacrifice. It is the last foo-fa-rah before Lent, but this is a New Orleans tradition we are talking about, and one day of partying is simply not enough. Technically, there is a whole Mardis Gras season called Carnival which begins on January 6^th with Twelfth Night or also called the Feast of Epiphany.

January 6th, Twelth Night, Carnival officially begins. Some organizations have elaborate balls or parties in which the royalty of the individual group or "krewe" is presented. You must be invited in order to attend these functions. Then, about two weeks before Mardi Gras, the parades begin.

There are many types of parades. The older krewes have the tableau balls, and a king and queen elected from within the krewe. Some of these krewes date back to the 1800's and really helped to form Mardi Gras traditions in New Orleans. The Krewe of Rex dates back to 1872 and is the oldest of these parades. The king of Rex is the official king of Carnival and parades on Mardi Gras.

The "super krewes" were more recently founded and are larger parades. The floats are often several times the size of the floats in the old line parades. Instead of having more traditional balls, these super krewes have lavish parties immediately after their parades, and feature celebrity monarchs. The Krewe of Endymion kicks off the first “super krewe” parade on the Saturday before Mardi Gras. Bacchus follows the next night. Both founded in the 1960's, Endymion and Bacchus are the oldest of the super krewes. Lundi Gras (Fat Monday) is the day before Mardi Gras, and Orpheus, the newest of the super krewes parades on that night.

All of the expenses are paid solely by the club. There are no commercial sponsors for Mardi Gras.

This tradition has rippled north over the decades to different parts of Mississippi, mainly Natchez the Gulf Coast, but areas all through the Magnolia state are known to celebrate, have parades, and even have state holidays from school and work for the occasion.



No matter where you spend Mardi Gras, this  party ends at midnight. Street cleaners, led by mounted police, clear the mass crowds of people off Bourbon Street in New Orleans and this rule is no exception with Krewe of Bona Dea. If you are new to Mardi Gras, believe what I’m telling you. All the excitement ends at midnight.

Mardis Gras Krewes’ often name themselves after a particular Roman or Greek mythological hero or god that has meaning to them. For us, it was the Roman goddess Bona Dea that emobodied our meaning. Read more about our goddess and namesake by selecting “The Good Goddess” on the Menu Tab.