| cl | | | | Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash |
| Celebrate Mardi Gras! This history rich festival makes | | | | Wednesday. It provided a last chance to eat, drink |
| for the perfect mid-winter party! With the dead of | | | | and be merry before the austerity of the Lenten |
| winter upon all of us, itâs time to gather | | | | season. Here in the United States Mardi Gras was |
| friends and family and get everyone out of their | | | | introduced by the French and first celebrated along |
| winter doldrums. Mardi Gras provides a fun and | | | | the Mississippi River, near what is now New Orleans. |
| festive reason for a celebration! Mardi Gras season in | | | | This origin is what has established the strong |
| the early centuries of Europe, ran from the end of | | | | connection between New Orleans and Mardi Gras. In |
| Christmas to the beginning of Lent on the Christian | | | | 2010, the official Mardi Gras festivities occur on |
| calendar. It always began with the Feast of the | | | | Tuesday, February 16th, so you have plenty of time |
| Epiphany, the twelfth day after Christmas and ended | | | | to plan a Mardi Gras celebration for this year. |
| with the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mardi | | | | |
