h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Actually, the Mardi Gras celebration ALWAYS ends on Fat Tuesday (Mardi = Tuesday, Gras = Fat).

Have you been to Mardi Gras? I'm Canadian, but NOT French. I do like spicy food, though, eh? I just added the eh? for effect.

Never been - my wife has heard stories and is AFRAID to go. Besides the fact that we'd have to get rid of three rug-rats for a weekend.

No, Mardi Gras is no place for sprogs. I believe there's quite a lot of crime there. From what I've seen on "Cops", anyway.

Forget the crime, there's a lot of alcohol and nudity!

We spent a weekend there a couple of years ago, and they had a St. Joseph's Day parade. They will literally take any excuse they can to have a party and a parade down there.

LOL Yes, I've heard that, too. I babysat a dog while the owners went to New Orleans for New Years. They couldn't believe how much fun they had. Everyone there is nuts.

Hi, I lived in Baton Rouge for three years, it was a nice experience. I met some really nice people. They sure are very different from people who live up north.
I loved Mardi Gras, it is really unique. People are really comfortable in terms of nudity. It is normal during Mardi Gras prades for women to show their breasts to get some nice beeds.
Mardi Gras is one of the few days that's legal to drink alcohol at public places like streets. It is correct that the crime is high but like everywhere else New Orleans has some parts that's not safe to visit.
But I do recommend that you visit New Orleans especially during Mardi Gras if you like to have some fun.

Since this site began with a discussion of Cajuns and I'm a Cajun, I feel I should point out that Mardi Gras in New Orleans is much different from Mardi Gras in the rural Cajun areas of Louisiana. Here, our Mardi Gras is celebrated by gathering a group of people wearing masks and travelling around the countryside in a caravan composed of horses and wagons (due to technology, we now use trucks to pull the wagons). The Mardi Gras (that's a noun to describe a participant) go from house to house and ask the residents to take pity on them and give them a chicken so they can cook some gumbo.

The Mardi Gras claim they are travelers from far away and that, although they may appear frightening because of their masks, they really mean no harm and they will do tricks and entertain their host in exchange for a chicken or some other bit of food to add to their gumbo. (In the traditional Mardi Gras song sung in French, the Mardi Gras say they are "from England" for reasons that will be evident to anyone who reads up on the Acadian Expulsion. The song can be heard on any of several websites devoted to Cajun music. Just search "Cajun Louisiana music" and you'll find them). If the homeowner is willing, he tosses a chicken out into his yard. Some of the Mardi Gras try to catch the chicken to add it to their larder while others sing and dance to entertain the gracious host. This ritual is repeated all along the route through the countryside.

After several hours of traipsing aroung the countryside, drinking, singing, dancing, and having fun, the Mardi Gras head back to a gathering point to make gumbo with all the chickens and to dance. Like in New Orleans, Mardi Gras ends at the stroke of midnight because Ash Wednesday begins Lent and the season of merriment and excess leads to penance. Actually, most rural Mardi Gras end much earlier because the participants are pretty well exhausted by early evening. Also, because it takes time prepare live chickens and then cook gumbo, the Mardi Gras no longer rely on eating just the food gathered during the day--- while they are riding around, someone is is back at headquarters cooking up a gumbo using ingredients bought at a supermarket.

In my town (Eunice, LA), the Mardi Gras parade involves several hundred masked riders on horseback and numerous trucks and wagons with masked riders and lots of food and drink. It begins at 8:00 am and ends with the caravan heading down the Main Street of the town about 3:00 pm (Naturally, it's hard to have something like this work on precise time and no one really cares if it's late.) During the day, Mardi Gras on horseback get tired or drunk and trade places with riders on wagons, riders on wagons move from one wagon to another, and, in general, everything is pretty fluid in a sort of organized chaos. No one gets naked but some people get pretty lewd. Remember, everyone is masked (an absolute requirement to be allowed to ride on the trip) and no one is supposed to know who anyone else really is---- so there's lot's of opportunity for anonymous flirting, etc. It's hard to explain all this but perhaps one could think of a 7 hour rolling masquerade party. By the way, strangers are welcome to attend and anyone who really is from "far away"--like England, will be treated very well because Cajuns love to share their joi de vivre with strangers.