Fat Tuesday

Here’s the real skinny on Mardi Gras.

Many people think that Mardi Gras is a period of time preceding Fat Tuesday. But it’s not. Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday are one and the same!

Yes, indeed. It’s true. Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French. Actually Mardi is Tuesday and Gras is Fat so speaking literally you would say Tuesday Fat – ha!

Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

It’s the final day of Carnival (pronounced car-ni-vahl) which begins 12 days after Christmas (Twelfth Night) and lasts exactly 47 days.

Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday is the 47th day!

Mardi Gras is celebrated all over the world. In the United States the place to be, of course, is New Orleans, Louisiana. Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Venice, Italy are the cities most famous for their celebrations outside of North America.

Here’s a fun little fact. On Bourbon street in New Orleans, store owners coat poles and columns with vaseline to keep wild and rowdy revelers from climbing them (and perhaps falling).

So there you go! Happy Fat Tuesday!