I loved the city and I particularly loved the gaiety and spirit of Mardi Gras.

Tomorrow Mardi Gras opens officially.

The opening track, "' Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum ', includes many references to parades in Mardi Gras in New Orleans, where participants are masked, and " determined to go all the way " of the parade route, in spite of being intoxicated.

The wearing of costumes has become an important part of such holidays and festivals as Mardi Gras and Halloween ( see Halloween costume for more information ), and ( to a lesser extent ) people may also wear costumes in conjunction with other holidays, such as Christmas and Easter.

Mardi Gras costumes usually take the form of jesters and other fantasy characters, while Halloween costumes traditionally take the form of supernatural creatures such as ghosts, vampires, pop culture icons and angels.

This day, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday when Lent begins, is also known as Mardi Gras, a French phrase which translates as " Fat Tuesday " to mark the last consumption of eggs and dairy before Lent begins.

The Krewe of Orpheus parades on St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street in New Orleans on Lundi Gras ( Fat Monday ) — the day before Mardi Gras ( Fat Tuesday ).

The event has earned its name as the Mardi Gras of the Mountains.

* Mardi Gras Indians

* He was Grand Marshal of the Krewe of Endymion Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans on February 21, 2009 and was accompanied by The Chee-Weez, a local area cover band.

* Mardi Gras ( February 3 to March 9 in regular years, February 4 to March 9 in leap years )

* Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras – 47 days before Easter.

These parties are sometimes associated with holiday events, such as Halloween and Mardi Gras.

* Mardi Gras

* Mardi Gras

* Mardi Gras

* Mardi Gras

New Orleans musicians such as Bartholomew and Longhair incorporated Cuban instruments, as well as the clave pattern and related two-celled figures in songs such as " Carnival Day ," ( Bartholomew 1949 ) and " Mardi Gras In New Orleans " ( Longhair 1949 ).

In his " Mardi Gras in New Orleans ," the pianist employs the 2-3 clave onbeat / offbeat motif in a rumba boogie " guajeo " ( below ).

Piano excerpt from the rumba boogie " Mardi Gras in New Orleans " ( 1949 ) by Professor Longhair.

The Hawketts, in " Mardi Gras Mambo " ( 1955 ) ( featuring the vocals of a young Art Neville ), make a clear reference to Perez Prado in their use of his trademark " Unhh!

Listen: " Mardi Gras Mambo " by the Hawketts ( 1955 ).

After three consecutive years of school bands, singer and comedienne Carol Channing led a tribute to Mardi Gras.

Actress and singer Carol Channing was featured during the halftime show that paid tribute to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

* February – French settlers at Fort Louis de la Mobile celebrate Mardi Gras in Mobile ( Alabama ) by parading a large papier-mache ox head on a cart ( the first Mardi Gras parade in America ).

A connection can be seen in the etymology of the name in some European languages ( Mardi in French or martes in Spanish ).

Mardi gras is French for Fat Tuesday, referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday ; in English the day is sometimes referred to as Shrove Tuesday, from the word shrive, meaning " confess.

Mardi Gras 2010 celebrants in the French Quarter of New Orleans, in the traditional colors of purple, green, and gold

Mardi Gras arrived in North America as a French Catholic tradition with the Le Moyne brothers, Pierre Le Moyne d ' Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, in the late 17th century, when King Louis XIV sent the pair to defend France's claim on the territory of Louisiane, which included what are now the U. S. states of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

This was on March 3, 1699, Mardi Gras, so in honor of this holiday, Iberville named the spot Point du Mardi Gras ( French: " Mardi Gras Point ") and called the nearby tributary Bayou Mardi Gras.

In 1703 French settlers in Mobile established the first organized Mardi Gras celebration tradition in what was to become the United States.

The French Mardi Gras customs had accompanied the colonists who settled there.

The idea of mystic societies was exported to New Orleans in 1856 when six businessmen, three who were formerly of Mobile, gathered at a club room in New Orlean's French Quarter to organize a secret society, inspired by the Cowbellion de Rakin Society, that would observe Mardi Gras with a formal parade.

Other cities along the Gulf Coast with early French colonial heritage, from Pensacola, Florida to Lafayette, Louisiana, have active Mardi Gras celebrations.

* February – In America, Mardi Gras is celebrated one more time with Masque de la Mobile in the capital of French Louisianne, Mobile ( Alabama ), before Mobile is moved 27 miles ( 43 km ) down the Mobile River to Mobile Bay in 1711.

* February – In America, Mardi Gras is celebrated with the Masque de la Mobile in the capital of French Louisianne, Mobile ( Alabama ).

The gumbo is the centerpiece of the community supper the same night, where the Mardi Gras riders sing the Chanson de Mardi Gras, an old song in Cajun French sung for generations, then take off their masks and reveal, ostensibly for the first time that day, the identity of each rider.

In December 1856, six Anglo-American New Orleans businessmen, formerly of Mobile, Alabama gathered at a club room above the now-defunct Gem Restaurant in New Orleans ' French Quarter to organize a secret society to observe Mardi Gras in a less crude fashion.

* Carnival: The Krewe du Vieux parades through the Faubourg Marigny and French Quarter neighborhoods of New Orleans, Louisiana, starting that city's " Mardi Gras " season of parades.

Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday ( Mardi Gras in French ), the day before Ash Wednesday.

While many tourists center their Mardi Gras season activities on Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, none of the major Mardi Gras parades has entered the Quarter since 1972 because of its narrow streets and overhead obstructions.