Mardi Gras — or Fat Tuesday — is world-renowned as a rowdy, bawdy celebration, but the day is more than that.
Fat Tuesday has been traditionally the last hurrah for Christians before the austere penitential season of Lent. Fat Tuesday is followed by Ash Wednesday, the first day of the 40 days of austerity that precede Easter. In 2022, Mardi Gras is March 1.
Mardi Gras has no official standing on the calendar of the Catholic Church, but it has been celebrated for centuries by Christians and non-Christians alike. Mardi Gras, or Carnival, came to Louisiana in 1699 with French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville, who had celebrated it in Paris.
Today, it is celebrated in hundreds of cities across the United States, including New Orleans, which virtually owns the Mardi Gras brand. Hundreds more celebrations occur in South America, especially Brazil, as well as in Europe and Asia. It still marks the beginning of Lent, but while not many people strictly observe Lent as 40 days of prayer, self-denial and penitence, people still like to celebrate Mardi Gras.
