It's FAT TUESDAY!!!!!! Happy Mari Gras!!!!

What is Mardi Gras? Well, lets just ask Wikipedia shall we?

WIKIPEDIA:

Mardi Gras

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the carnival. For other uses, see Mardi Gras (disambiguation).

Mardi Gras, Carnival
Celebrations in New Orleans, USA
Also called	Fat Tuesday
Type	Cultural
Significance	Celebration prior to fasting season of Lent
Celebrations	Parades, parties
Date	Day before Ash Wednesday, 47 days before Easter
2015 date	February 17
2016 date	February 9
2017 date	February 28
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Shrove Tuesday; Carnival, Shrove Monday, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Užgavėnės, Maslenitsa, Valentine's Day

   

Mardi Gras (/ˈmɑrdiɡrɑː/), also Fat Tuesday^{[1][2][3][4][5]} in English, refers to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after the Epiphany or King's Day and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season.
Related popular practices are associated with celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. The date of Fat Tuesday coincides with that of celebrations of Shrove Tuesday, from the word shrive, meaning "confess".^[6]

 

 

 

 

Traditions

Popular practices on Mardi Gras include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, debauchery, etc. Similar expressions to Mardi Gras appear in other European languages sharing the Christian tradition, as it is associated with the religious requirement for confession before Lent begins. 

 

 

In many areas, the term "Mardi Gras" has come to mean the whole period of activity related to the celebratory events, beyond just the single day. In some American cities, it is now called "Mardi Gras Day".^{[1][2][3][4][5]} It also has become a single people's counter to the coupled-centric Valentine's Day.^[5]

 

Nicole