When is it celebrated? What other kinds of holidays of that nature occur and where and when?
2007-01-26 23:00:39 · 8 answers · asked by victorschool1 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Other - Holidays
mardi gras....is fat tuesday. it's the last day before ash wednesday and the beginning of lent. since people are supposed to give up indulgences for lent, they celebrate the last day of absolute "freedom" by participating in overindulgent, crazy and overly sinful behavior. (i guess) you know, all the sex and nudity, drinking and partying....
2007-01-26 23:09:54 · answer #1 · answered by practicalwizard 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's Mardis Gras- which means "Fat Tuesday"
In New Orleans, there are a lot of celebrations- which incorporate French customs as well as the customs of other countries.
Fat Tuesday (or Shrove Tuesday) is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. In New Orleans and in other cities, the celebrations begin 2 weeks before.
It's really not "evil" just a lot of partying. Once Ash Wednesday begins, the partying and parades are over. Some party-goers and revelers go overboard with alcohol consumption and the like.
There are big celebrations in Rio de Janiero as well (in Brazil).
Fat Tuesday was the day Christians would eat a lot because the fasting of Lent would begin the next day. Nothing evil about that.
2007-01-27 12:42:18 · answer #2 · answered by Lizzie 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mardi Gras is the last Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Certain Christian denominations celebrate Ash Wednesday as the beginning of the 40 days before Easter and the start of Lent.
What happens during Lent? Members of these denominations give up a vice or other habit for 40 days - like Jesus did when he went into the wilderness for 40 days without food or water.
Mardi Gras started as a way to "get it out of your system" to make Lent a bit easier.
Mardi Gras started in Mobile Alabama, not in New Orleans.
2007-01-27 07:09:30 · answer #3 · answered by Christmas Light Guy 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mardi Gras is "Fat Tuesday" - the day before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent.) It's not evil, but certainly gets wild. It's the same thing that is celebrated in Rio de Janerio during Festival. In fact most areas with large Roman Catholic populations celebrate just before Lent.
2007-01-27 07:09:33 · answer #4 · answered by Lea 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's "Mardi Gras", which literally means "fat Tuesday". It's also sometimes called "shrove Tuesday" (heck if I know why) or "pancake Tuesday" (because in some places it's traditional to eat pancakes.
It began as a tradition to use up certain foods (including oils/fats) prior to the Lenten fast - which starts the next day (on Ash Wednesday) but eventually grew into a chance to stock up on all the pleasures of the flesh you were supposedly about to deny yourself until Easter.
So it's not really a celebration of "evil" so much as hedonism.
2007-01-27 09:50:54 · answer #5 · answered by sdc_99 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Its a celebration of over-indulgence the day before Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent in the Catholic Church. It is NOT a religious holiday.
Literally translated: Mardi Gras = Fat Tuesday
2007-01-27 07:10:42 · answer #6 · answered by Tough Love 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Mardi Gras is the celebration right before Ash Wednesday, cultimating on Fat Tuesday. It's the last "party" before lent. It is the direct opposite of evil.
2007-01-27 07:09:24 · answer #7 · answered by Enchanted 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Why would you think it was evil? If it is, there sure are a lot of evil people in the world who attend.
2007-01-27 07:06:54 · answer #8 · answered by CrankyYankee 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋