Mardi Gras Magic

Mardi Gras is the most famous of all the New Orleans festivals. The day itself, Fat Tuesday, marks the last party before the start of the Catholic Lenten period and falls between early February and mid-March.

Carnival, the overall celebration period starts on January 5th, the 12th night of Christmas by tradition. In New Orleans, Christmas trees stay up until that day, and parades that evening mark the beginning of the celebratory season. This is the time of year when it’s okay to buy and eat as much king cake as humanly possible.

The heart of Carnival is what most people think of as Mardi Gras. Starting just over 2 weeks before Mardi Gras day, the first parades will roll through the French Quarter and in streetcars along Saint Charles Avenue.

What follows is almost 3 weeks of parades, parties, costumes, late nights and reckless abandon. The culmination happens on that final Tuesday, with Zulu and Rex parading along Saint Charles, followed by the final truck parades. That night, at the stroke of midnight, police on horseback will march down Bourbon Street, chasing everyone inside or back home so the cleanup can begin.