ABSTRACT
Mardi Gras is a carnival based around the Christian calendar, lasting from one day to many months. In certain cultures it commences on Twelfth Night (or Epiphany) and culminates on Shrove Tuesday (or Fat Tuesday, which is the direct English translation of the French Mardi Gras), being the day before the commencement of the 40-day penitential season of Lent. Mardi Gras, or Carnival, is celebrated in many parts of the world from Europe (where it has its origins) to the United States and South America, including the renowned Venice Carnevale and the largest celebration in the world in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. The culturally diverse New Orleans Mardi Gras was initially celebrated by French colonial settlers in Louisiana in the early eighteenth century. Popular Mardi Gras practices include wearing masks and costumes to balls and in parades, involving at times complex rituals that invert and overturn social conventions. However, there are other, far more intricate meanings and rituals that have been developed under the aegis of Mardi Gras, especially in New Orleans.
