Some have asked me for more information concerning Mardi Gras. I spent some time on Friday, okay, more than a little time, looking up information found on the www and without spending days on the subject, I will tell you what I found that may interest you.
The majority of the information I read for this project was from Wikipedia, www.wikipedia.org and that site's acknowledged reference links. I like that website, am comfortable with the information they share and rely on its bases of data. One of our very own local southeast Texas Mardi Gras celebrations is in Port Arthur. The website for that big party is http://www.portarthur.com/mardigras/ and is very informative. It's pretty too! You will enjoy their explanations of Mardi Gras. Other reference sites I used are found at the end of my ramblings. I must say that I read a lot more than I've actually written for you, but I'm sharing the most informative websites with you to read all about it.
Most of the reference websites I read agree that the literal translation of the term, Mardi Gras, is from the French language meaning "Fat Tuesday" and is also known as "Shrove Tuesday" (a term used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia) or "Pancake Day" (a tradition of eating pancakes on that particular day in Ireland and among certain religions around the world). The time frame places this particular day at the Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent in the Western Christian calendar. Certain dates were / are set by the Catholic Church's Gregorian calendar and Ash Wednesday falls within those guidelines.
Some of the sites I read credit the French explorer, Sieur d'Iberville, with having brought the Mardi Gras 'experience' to America in 1699.
The general definition of the term, Mardi Gras, appears to be the final day of Carnival, a period of celebration leading up to Lent. This period of celebration begins 12 days after Christmas (Twelfth Night, the eve of Epiphany) and ends, always on a Tuesday, exactly 46 days before Easter. We tend to use Mardi Gras as the term for all the related activities and call the final day "Fat Tuesday". There are numerous versions of the definition of Carnival, but I leave the research for that upon you, dear reader.
The traditions that I investigated are more entertaining to me than any definitions. I will share what I found.
It seems parts of the traditions reach back in time to the pre-Christian era.
Parades, balls, Krewes, the colors of Mardi Gras, the Courir du Mardi Gras, costumes, masks and gumbo are some of the most common traditions and pageantries associated with Mardi Gras as we know in our Golden Triangle and US Gulf Coast areas. The merriment of Mardi Gras certainly allows us to 'let our hair down' from all the more boring activities of our life!
New Orleans Online, http://www.neworleansonline.com, has a featured story by Arthur Hardy titled 'Mardi Gras Glossary' that briefly describes some words and phrases associated with Mardi Gras.
Please remember that these explanations are my personal short and sweet versions.
The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple, green and gold, symbolic of justice, faith and power respectively.
Krewes are groups of people who socialize, organize and / or associate with each other and engage in varied social and community related activities. These groups are much entwined with the Mardi Gras experience! Balls, charity events and parades are some of their entertainment factors.
Parades, balls, event royalty and coronations thereof, costumes and disguises, throws, food and drink are all part of the festivals and high spirit of the season! Don't forget the King Cake!
A quickie version of Courir du Mardi Gras, the running of the chicken as some around here call it, is a disguised group of individuals who, on a selected route, travel by horse, cart and / or foot to targeted homesteads and, in the guise of beggars, obtain ingredients that will culminate with the cooking of a communal meal (commonly a gumbo in the southern US). One of the main ingredients of the meal happens to be a chicken. At least one of the homestead contributors, as told in most stories, donates the animal. Apparently this prize is thrown into the air in an effort to make the 'beggars' work for their protein by chasing it down! What fun!; probably not for the chicken though.
The Port Arthur website indicates that there will be a Courir du Mardi Gras parade on Thursday, January 31st at 4:45 p.m beginning at Rosehill and will travel down Lake Shore Drive. Afterwards there will be a fais do-do (dance) downtown. Given our up and down weather lately, you may want to double check their time table for the events prior to going.
In the state of Louisiana, Mardi Gras Day is an official state holiday. Certain Louisiana parishes (known as counties in Texas) are designated the option of allowing their governing authorities to declare by ordinance this day's recognition. I wager that anyone that would utter a word against Mardi Gras as an official holiday would promptly be treated as the gumbo's primary ingredient!!!
Please read Port Arthur's Mardi Gras website for much more information that I can give you. I would be but rewriting their, and others', data at any rate and Port Arthur dot com has done an excellent job.
The lovely Cajun culture gives us the expression 'Laissez les bons temps rouler' meaning 'Let the good times roll'. Mardi Gras certainly gives us an opportunity of that flavor!
I haven't been able to participate in Carnival in another country yet (she sighs sadly). Merida's Carnival season begins next week and, alas, I'm in southeast Texas. Yucatanliving.com has a 2007 article by the Working Gringos, Ellen and James Fields, of Carnival experiences. You'll find the article at http://www.yucatanliving.com/events/carnaval-through-yucatecan-glasses.htm.
So enjoy, participate in the fun if you get the chance and Laissez les bons temps rouler, y'all !
Patt
Sources and good reads:
www.wikipedia.org
http://www.lsue.edu/acadgate/mardmain.htm
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/mardigras/mgdictionary.html
http://www.portarthur.com/mardigras/
http://www.neworleansonline.com
http://www.novareinna.com/festive/mardi.html
http://doa.louisiana.gov/osp/aboutus/holidays.htm
http://www.legis.state.la.us/lss/lss.asp?doc=74097
http://www.angelfire.com/folk/cajunfrench/expressions.txt
http://www.yucatanliving.com/events/carnaval-through-yucatecan-glasses.htm
http://www.yucatantoday.com/events/eng-carnaval.htm
Funny and informative sites of Cajun expressions and family type histories:
Don't miss the pictionary in this one ! http://lafourche.k12.la.us/teymard/cajunword/
Also see: http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/flats/4396/language.html#expressions
http://www.cajunfrenchmusic.org/history/
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