If you live in France and wake up on Tuesday, March 5, you may hear a yell, music, and dancing. Well, there is a very special holiday called Mardi Gras. You may be wondering “What’s that?” Well, it is a holiday full of food, entertainment, parades, floats, costumes and so, so much more! So let’s look at some info that will tell you all about Mardi Gras and their traditions. So let’s Go to France and see what it’s about.
According to Lynn Peppas Cultural Traditions In France, Mardi Gras is a holiday celebrated 47 days before Easter and the day before Ash Wednesday the start of the Christian lent were they fast until Easter. Mardi Gras has lots of entertainment and food and according to Cultural Traditions in France, ”The famous festival known as Carnival began in Nice 800 years ago. This festival includes colorful parades with large floats, Musicians, And dancers in colorful costumes”. In addition, they also throw flowers in the audience and have some in their hats and costumes.
In Defining France, Mardi Gras origins can be traced back to Medieval Europe and can go back through Rome and Venice from the 17th to 18th century. Each year they wear a mask, throw trinkets and beads into the crowd and each year a king and queen are chosen to reign over the parade. Also according to The Local,” With 40 percent of people in the Hauts-De-France region celebrating the holiday. In the US, Mardi Gras is celebrated in some places like New Orleans, Louisiana. Also quoted from The Local, “There, it is celebrated by spotlighting the king, throwing trinkets in too the crowd, making eye-catching costumes, and having a spectacular ball called Ball Tablaeu. They also have parades and have Kings Cake where if you get a charm or nut in your cake, you are declared king of that years Mardi Gras parade.” This is a lot like Mardi Gras in France because they all still do their parades and balls, and also do Kings Cake so they do a lot of the same things in both places.
Well, I wish Mardi Gras was in every state and every week. It sounds super fun and the music, food, dancing and more just sound amazing and really fun. In my eyes, to me, it looks like a great holiday to celebrate. It could be like the Thanksgiving parade and it would be really cool. Then it could still be how the French celebrate in France.
