2007-01-30 02:28:19 · 16 answers · asked by pearls 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Holidays ➔ Other - Holidays
Fat Tuesday is Mardi Gras, the festival New Orleans, Louisiana, is famous for. "Gras" is French for fat and "Mardi" is French for Tuesday.
The annual festivities start on January 6, the Twelfth Night Feast of the Epiphany, when the three kings are supposed to have visited the Christ Child, and build to a climax on Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, which always occurs on the day before Ash Wednesday. The parties and parades will continue until Lent begins at the stroke of midnight on Tuesday.
Mardi Gras is a legal holiday in New Orleans. It is scheduled to occur 46 days before Easter. Since the actual date Easter occurs on changes yearly, Mardi Gras can happen on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9.
For two centuries it has been an annual event in New Orleans, except during the two World Wars.
2007-01-30 02:36:32 · answer #1 · answered by psstoffagain 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
February 20, 2007
2007-01-30 10:32:23 · answer #2 · answered by brookeems 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fat Tuesday (which is the literal translation of Mardi Gras) is always the day before Ash Wednesday. It's also called Faschnot day (sp?) or Doughnut day for Pennsylvania Dutch - you eat a certain kind of doughnut that day. The tradition is that you eat and drink all the bad stuff that you're supposed to give up for Lent, which starts with a day of fasting on Ash Wednesday.
That reminds me, I better eat all those Girl Scout cookies by the 20th!
2007-01-30 10:38:25 · answer #3 · answered by sandand_surf 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday") is the day before Ash Wednesday, and is also called "Shrove Tuesday" or "Pancake Day". It is the final day of Carnival (English:IPA: [kaË(ɹ)nɨvÉl] and Romance languages:IPA: [karnaval]). It is a celebration that is held just before the beginning of the Christian liturgical season of Lent. The feast should not be confused with the Swedish Fettisdagen (Fat Tuesday) or the Polish TÅusty Czwartek (which translates to Fat Thursday).
2007-01-30 10:37:09 · answer #4 · answered by landhermit 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fat Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday (this year it is Feb. 20).
2007-01-30 10:33:00 · answer #5 · answered by rapha76 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it's "fat" tuesday, the day before ash wednesday, the beginning of lent. this year it falls on February 20.
2007-01-30 10:36:58 · answer #6 · answered by dwalkercpa 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is the day before Ash Wednesday - the beginning of Lent.
This year is February 20th.
2007-01-30 10:31:37 · answer #7 · answered by sagegranny 4 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Fat Tuesday
Mardi Gras
Day before Ash Wednesday in the Christian calendar. Not "celebrated" by all Christian faiths.
2007-01-30 10:31:56 · answer #8 · answered by alter_tygo 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the tuesday before lent starts
2007-01-30 10:35:54 · answer #9 · answered by princess2423 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is 20 February this year..
2007-01-30 10:31:51 · answer #10 · answered by Bella 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋