Articles and Stories

February 4, 2016

Mardi Gras parades and parties started shortly after the New Year in New Orleans and will climax on the 9th of February this year with the final big parade and parties in every corner of the city.
Mardi-Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday”. It marks the end of the “week of the seven fat days” previously known as “jours charnels”, which means carnival. People celebrate by eating meat before starting their fasting period of Lent. It is their last chance until Easter to eat meat.
The word ‘carnival’ comes from carnelevare, which means ‘to remove meat.’
‘Carnaval do Brazil’ is the most famous holiday in Brazil. It is celebrated with big parades and parties in glamorous costumes for several days.
In Germany, the official start to Karnival or Fasching or Fastnacht (the word also comes from fasting) is on November 11 at 11:11am, but the actual celebrations never really take off before one or two weeks before Rose Monday or Fat Tuesday.
In the evening of Fat Tuesday, in the south of Germany, big bonfires are set in the town squares. On top of the bonfires hovers a witch made out of straw. People are standing around the bonfire to keep warm and lament the end of carnival in loud voices.

Photo courtesy of Monica Garcia-Salamon