Best Mardi Gras Facts and Fat Tuesday Trivia 2023

Different parades are held in neighborhoods throughout the city. They’re organized by groups called krewes that are usually named for figures of Greek or Roman mythology. Each krewe chooses a new parade theme every year.

The Mistick Krewe of Comus is credited with making New Orleans the most popular Mardi Gras destination in the United States when they introduced floats to the parade in 1857. Comus is the Greek God of Revelry.

Carnival season in New Orleans officially kicks off every year on Twelfth Night (which marks the Epiphany) when a group called the Phunny Phorty Phellows rides down St. Charles in a streetcar throwing out the first beads.

Krewe of Rex, founded in 1872, is responsible for originating several Mardi Gras traditions including the official colors and giving out Spanish gold coins.

There are over 70 parades held throughout the New Orleans metropolitan area during carnival season.

“Laissez les bon temps rouler” means “let the good times roll” in Cajun French, which seems appropriate.

Despite its reputation for debauchery, you can find relatively calm celebrations uptown. Just avoid the French Quarter.

New Orleans, Baton Rouge, the Louisiana Northshore doggies get their own parades.

Purple, gold and green are the official Mardi Gras colors. They were selected by Rex Krewe to honor visiting Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff because they were his family colors.

That’s right, each of the official Mardi Gras colors has a hidden secret meaning…

The color purple represents justice.

The gold color symbolizes power.

And finally, green is used to represent faith.

The Krewe of Rex also selected the theme song “If Ever I Cease to Love,” which has since been adopted as the anthem for Mardi Gras.

It’s believed that the bead-throwing tradition started in the 1880s when a man dressed as Santa became popular with the crowd for tossing them. Other krewes took notice and adopted it.

The beads used to be made of glass but are now primarily made of plastic.

The city estimates around 25 million pounds of beads get thrown into the streets each year.

After clogged storm drains that caused excess flooding, the city cleared the drains of 46 tons of beads!

To prevent this from happening again, the city installed “gutter buddies” on drains to keep them bead-free.

Parade attendees request the trinkets by yelling the phrase “Throw me something mister!”

Although beads are the most common, many of the krewes offer up various trinkets to the crowd as they make their way down the street.

Mardi Gras beads and coins are sometimes referred to as “doubloons.”

One of the most coveted trinkets to catch is a golden coconut thrown during the Zulu parade.

The coconut was first given as a trinket in 1910. At the time, it was a simple natural fruit without the gold. Zulu historian Emeritus Clarence Becknell said, “The coconut came because they couldn’t afford to buy the beads.”

In 1987 lawsuits were filed against the Zulu krewe, claiming that people were injured by coconuts thrown from their floats. That year, the club could not get insured.

Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club (Krewe of Zulu) is the oldest African-American krewe. They have been parading since 1909.

It is required by law for people on floats to be wearing masks.

The Corps de Napoleon was fined $100 for having 23 unmasked riders in 2018.

The masks are worn to allow people to “escape society and class constraints.”

The parade thrown by the Krewe of Bacchus is one of the main attractions every year because of their over-the-top floats and because they tap celebrities every year to dress up as Bacchus, the Greek God of Wine.

King Bacchus 2018 was Robin Thicke. Previous kings include William Shatner, Anthony Mackie and Nicolas Cage.

Not every group is traditional, just check out the Krewe of Chewbacchus, which combines Bacchus, the Greek God of Wine with themes and imagery from Star Wars.

Some krewes have been known to spend over $200,000 on their floats. A company called Kern Studios has been offering up their float-building services to Mardi Gras paraders since 1932.

The French word refers to blazing torches that are used to light the way during nighttime carnival events. They originated in the 19th century out of practicality, because there weren’t modern street lights.

The street parades may draw the biggest crowds but each krewe also organizes a Mardi Gras ball, many of which are considered the social events of the season. They are planned by each krewe’s king and queen who are not revealed until the night of the ball.

The Krewe royalty system includes the Krewe leader, followed by the Kings and Queens, and then the maids and dukes.

The king is crowned by the mayor of New Orleans and they are also honored with a key to the city.

The doughy pastry known as king cake is the traditional Mardi Gras treat. The person who finds the hidden plastic baby in their slice is supposed to have good luck all year and is responsible for bringing the king cake to the next party.

RELATED: Best King Cake Recipe

An estimated 500,000 king cakes are sold each year during carnival season.

Most cakes are flavored with vanilla and cinnamon.

Hurricanes may be a year-round NOLA tradition, but cocktails made with a Spanish anise-flavored liqueur called Ojen is also popular this time of year. The spirit’s original manufacturers stopped making it in the 1990’s, but the Sazerac Company concocted their own recipe and started selling it again in 2016.

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the parade continued in a show of strength and resilience.

Mardi Gras festivities in New Orleans have been canceled 12 times, mostly because of wars. The most recent cancelations were in 1945 because of WWII and in 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2013 Super Bowl in New Orleans forced the city to change the parade schedule, so nothing would take place on game day.

Instead of traditional floats in 2021, New Orleans krewes elaborately decorated their houses.

Carnival celebrations originated in Nice, France with the earliest records dating back to 1294.

Mardi Gras became a holiday in 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII added it to the Gregorian calendar.

The LeMoyne brothers brought the Mardi Gras celebration to the United States when they were sent by King Louis XIV to defend France’s claim on the Louisiana territory in 1699. The territory included parts of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. They set up camp by the Mississippi River and named it Point du Mardi Gras where they held a small celebration.

Fat Tuesday was declared a state holiday in Louisiana in 1875.

It’s also a state holiday in parts of Alabama and Florida (pictured here).

Mobile, Alabama is home to the oldest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States. They’ve been partying since 1703.

Places like Ireland, England, Australia, New Zealand,and Canada refer to Mardi Gras as Shrove Tuesday. Shrove is rooted in the word shrive, which means to absolve, and people often go to church to confess their sins.

Lundi Gras, French for Fat Monday, has also become a popular day for carnival revelry.

Carnival season officially comes to a close when the mayor and police officers ride through the French Quarter on horseback at midnight on Ash Wednesday.