“Mardi Gras” (French for Fat Tuesday) is the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival, the three day period preceding the beginning of Lent, the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday immediately before Ash Wednesday (some traditions count Carnival as the entire period of time between Epiphany or Twelfth Night and Ash Wednesday). The entire three day period has now come to be known in many areas as Mardi Gras. Perhaps the cities most famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations include New Orleans, Louisiana; Mobile, Alabama and Sydney, Australia. Many other places have important Fat Tuesday celebrations as well. Carnival is an important celebration in most of Europe, except in the United Kingdom where pancakes are the tradition, and also in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean.

New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to the city in addition to the celebrating locals for the parties and parades. The starting date of festivities in New Orleans is March 3, 1699, when a group of French explorers set up camp on the west bank of the Mississippi River, about 60 miles downriver from the site that would become New Orleans. Since that day just happened to be Mardi Gras, a major event on the French calendar, the group’s leader, Pierre Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur d’Iberville dubbed the spot, in the spelling of the time, La Pointe du Mardy Gras. The Rex organization put a marker at the Louisiana site 300 years later. An account from 1743 notes that the custom of Carnival balls was already established by that date (during the time Bienville was still governor). Processions and masking in the streets on Mardi Gras Day took place, and were sometimes prohibited by law, but were quickly renewed whenever such restrictions were lifted or enforcement waned. In 1833, Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville, a rich plantation owner, raised the money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration. On Mardi Gras of 1857 the Mistick Krewe of Comus held its first parade. Comus is the oldest continuously active Mardi Gras organization and started a number of continuing traditions (for example, the use of floats in parades) and is considered the first Carnival krewe in the modern sense. In 1875 Mardi Gras was declared a legal holiday by the state of Louisiana. War, economic, political, and weather conditions sometimes led to cancellation of some or all major parades, especially during the American Civil War, World War I and World War II, but celebration of Carnival has always been observed in the city.

1972 was the last year in which large parades went though the narrow streets of the city’s old French Quarter neighborhood; larger floats and crowds and safety concerns led the city government to prohibit big parades in the Quarter. In 1991 the New Orleans city council passed an ordinance that required social organizations, including Mardi Gras Krewes, to certify publicly that they did not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation, in order to obtain parade permits and other public licenses. In effect, the ordinance required these, and other, private social groups to abandon their traditional code of secrecy and identify their members for the city’s Human Relations Commission. In protest, the 19th century krewes Comus and Momus stopped parading. Proteus did parade in the 1992 Carnival season but subsequently also suspended its parade for a time. In 2000, Proteus returned to the parade schedule. Two federal courts later declared that the ordinance was an unconstitutional infringement on First Amendment rights of free association, and an unwarranted intrusion on the privacy of the groups subject to the ordinance. The Supreme Court refused to hear the city’s appeal from this decision. Today, many krewes operate under a business structure; membership is basically open to anyone who pays dues to have a place on a parade float.

The effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans in late 2005 caused many to question the future of the city’s Mardi Gras celebrations. The city government, essentially bankrupt after the storm, pushed for a massively scaled back celebration to limit strains on city services. However, many krewes insisted that they wanted to and would be ready to parade, so negotiations between krewe leaders and city officials resulted in a compromise schedule scaled back but less severely than originally suggested. The 2006 New Orleans Carnival schedule included the Krewe du Vieux on its traditional route through Marigny and the French Quarter on February 11th, the Saturday 2 weekends before Mardi Gras, then several parades the Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th a week before Mardi Gras, followed by 6 days of parades Thursday night through Mardi Gras Day. Other than Krewe du Vieux and two Westbank parades going through Algiers, all New Orleans parades were restricted to the Saint Charles Avenue Uptown to Canal Street route, a section of the city which escaped significant flooding (some krewes unsuccessfully pushed to parade on their traditional Mid City route, despite the severe flood damage suffered by that neighborhood). Restrictions were placed on time parades can be on the street and how late at night they can end. Louisiana State troopers and National Guards assisted with crowd control for the first time since 1979. Many floats had been partially submerged in the floodwaters for weeks; while some krewes repaired and removed all traces of these effects, others incorporated flood lines and other damage into the designs of the floats. Most of the locals who worked on the floats and rode on them were significantly impacted by the storm’s aftermath, and many had lost most or all of the possessions in their homes, but enthusiasm for Carnival was even more intense than usual as an affirmation of life. The themes of many costumes and floats had more barbed satire than usual, with commentary on the trials and tribulations of living in the devastated city, with references to MREs, Katrina refrigerators and FEMA trailers, along with much mocking of FEMA, local, and national politicians.

Rio Carnival

The Brazilian Carnaval (Portuguese: Carnaval) is an annual festival in Brazil held 4 days before Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent. During Lent, Roman Catholics are supposed to abstain from all bodily pleasures, including the consumption of meat. The carnival, celebrated as a profane event and believed to have its origins in the pagan Saturnalia, can thus be considered an act of farewell to the pleasures of the flesh.Brazilian Carnival as a whole exhibits some differences with its counterparts in Europe and other parts of the world, and within Brazil it has distinct regional manifestations. Brazilian citizens used to riot until the Carnival was accepted by the government as an expression of culture. That was because the Brazilian carnival had its origin in a Portuguese festivity called “entrudo”.

Rio de Janeiro has many Carnival choices, including the famous Samba school (Escolas de Samba) parades in the sambadrome exhibition centre and the popular blocos de carnaval, which parade in almost every corner of the city. The most famous ones are:

Cordão do Bola Preta: Parades in the centre of the city. It is one of the most traditional carnavals. In 2006, it gathered 200,000 people in one day.

Suvaco do Cristo: Band that parades in the Botanic Garden, directly below the Redeemer statue’s arm. The name, in English, translates as ‘Christ’s armpit’, and was chosen for that reason.

Carmelitas: Band that was supposedly created by nuns, but in fact it is just a theme chosen by the band. It parades in the hills of Santa Teresa, which have very nice views.

Simpatia é Quase Amor: One of the most popular parades in Ipanema. Translates as ‘Friendliness is almost love’.

Banda de Ipanema: The most traditional in Ipanema. It attracts a wide range of revellers, including families and a wide spectrum of the gay population (notably spectacular drag queens).

In 1840 the first Carnaval was celebrated with a masked ball. As years passed, adorned floats and costumed revelers became a tradition amongst the celebrants. Carnaval is known as a historic root of Brazilian music.

Modern Brazilian Carnival finds its roots in Rio de Janeiro in 1845, when the city’s bourgeoisie imported the practice of holding balls and masquerade parties from Paris. It originally mimicked the European form of the festival, over time acquiring elements derived from Native American and African cultures.

In the late 19th century, the cordões (literally laces or strings in Portuguese) were introduced in Rio de Janeiro. These were groups of people who would go paradeing through the streets playing music and dancing. Today they are known as blocos (blocks), consisting of a group of people who dress in costumes or specials t-shirts according to certain themes or to celebrate the Carnival. Blocos are generally associated with particular neighbourhoods or suburbs and include both a percussion or music group and an entourage of revellers.

This “blocos” have become a big part of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival. There are more than 100 “blocos” nowadays and each year this number increases. Some are big, some are small, most concentrate in square and later parade though the streets and a few stay in the same place all the time. Each “bloco” has its place or street to parade and the big ones usually close the streets for car traffic. They usually start in January and last till the end of Carnival, so since the beginning of the year you can see a group of people dancing samba in any street of Rio in the weekends and during Carnival every day.

“Blocos” parade in Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon, Lagoa, Jardim Botânico, and in the centre of Rio. Usually the people who organize the “bloco” write their own music, which is played at all time during the parade, along with old carnival favourites called in Portuguese “Marchinhas de carnaval”, and sambas that have become classics. Some important “blocos” are “O cordão do bola preta”, that goes through the heart of Rio’s historical center, and “Suvaco do Cristo” (Christ’s armpit in Portuguese), in the neighbourhood, near Rio’s Botanic Garden. Monobloco is another bloco that has become so famous that their band plays all year round in parties and small concerts.

Samba schools are very large, well-financed organizations that work year round in preparation for Carnival. Parading in the Sambadrome runs over four entire nights and is part of an official competition, divided into seven divisions, in which a single samba school will be declared that year’s winner. Blocos deriving from the samba schools also hold street parties in their respective suburbs, through which they parade along with their followers.
Other Carnival

According to the Guinness Book of Records, the carnival or Carnaval of Salvador de Bahia is the biggest street party on the planet. For an entire week, almost 2 million people celebrate throughout 25 kilometers (15 miles) of streets, avenues and squares. The direct organisation of the party involves the participation of 25 thousand people. Its dimensions are gigantic. Salvador receives an average of 800 thousand visitors from municipalities located as far as 150 kilometers (93 miles) away, from several States of Brazil and from a number of other countries (Europe, USA and many others).

The music played during Carnaval includes Axé and Samba-reggae. Many “blocos” participate in Carnaval, the “blocos afros” like Malé Debalé, Olodum and Filhos de Gandhi being the most famous of them. Carnival is heavily policed. Stands with five or six seated police officers are erected everywhere and the streets are constantly patrolled by police groups moving in single file.

The three Carnival Circuits are:

The Campo Grande – Praça Castro Alves Circuit, also called the “Osmar” Circuit, or simply the “Avenidas”;

The Barra – Ondina Circuit, also called the “Dodô” Circuit;

The Pelourinho Circuit, also called the “Batatinha” Circuit.

There are several major differences between Carnival in the state of Bahia in Brazil’s Northeast Region and Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. The musical styles are different in each carnival; in Bahia there are many rhythms, including samba, samba-reggae, axé, and others, which are performed on a truck equipped with giant speakers and a platform where musicians play called a trio-elétrico. Massive numbers of people follow the trucks singing and dancing. The “Indian” groups were inspired by Western movies from the United States. The groups dress up as Native Americans and take on Native American names. Blocos Afros, or Afro groups, were influenced by the Black Pride Movement in the United States, independence movements in Africa, and reggae music that denounced racism and oppression. The groups inspired a renewed pride in African heritage.

The state of Pernambuco, another Northeast Region state, has a unique Carnival in its capital, Recife and in the near city of Olinda with the main rhythms called frevo and maracatu and the Galo da Madrugada, the biggest carnival parade in the world considering the number of participants, according The Guinness Book of World Records, as well as in other cities like Olinda and on the island of Itamaraca. Frevo is a type of music from Pernambuco especially typical.

Unlike the Carnaval in Salvador or Rio, Pernambuco’s festivities do not include competitions between parade groups. Big groups in magnificent parades dance side by side with improvised others. Troças and maracatus, mostly of African influence, begin one week before Carnival and end on the Sunday after Carnival up until Ash Wednesday. There are well-known groups with funny names such as: Tell me you love me, damn it, The Midnight Man (with a famous giant dancing doll that leads the group), Crazy Lover, Olinda’s Underpants and The Door.

herokas also holds some important carnival parades, mainly in the historic, baroque stylized cities like Ouro Preto, Mariana and Diamantina. There are also other major carnivals in the region, such as the one in Pompéu. Carnival em Minas Gerais is often characterized by blocos carnavalescos (carnival blocks) with varying themes and fantasy styles, almost always acompanied by fanfares (having at least fanfare on practically every town is a musical characteristic of the state). However, Minas Gerais carnival received firstly influence from Rio de Janeiro Carnival (several cities have their own samba schools) and later, some Axé groups from Bahia came to play in the state every carnival.

The date can vary from as early as February 3 to as late as March 9. As it is the last day before the start of Lent, the date is dependent on that of Easter.

Shrove Tuesday (and Mardi Gras) will occur on the following dates in the following years:(carnevale)

2008 — 5 February

2009 — 24 February

2010 — 16 February

2011 — 8 March

2012 — 21 February

2013 — 12 February

2014 — 4 March

2015 — 17 February

2016 — 9 February

2017 — 28 February

2018 — 13 February

2019 — 5 March

2020 — 25 February

2021 — 16 February

2022 — 1 March

2023 — 21 February

2024 — 13 February

2025 — 4 March

2026 — 17 February

2027 — 9 February

2028 — 29 February

2029 — 13 February

2030 — 5 March

2031 — 25 February

2032 — 10 February

2033 — 1 March

2034 — 21 February

2035 — 6 February

2036 — 26 February

2037 — 17 February

2038 — 9 March

2039 — 22 February

2040 — 14 February

2041 — 5 March

2042 — 18 February

2043 — 10 February

2044 — 1 March

2045 — 21 February

2046 — 6 February

2047 — 26 February

2048 — 18 February

2049 — 2 March

2050 — 22 February