Fat Tuesday, appropriately named for the indulgent day before the celebration of lent, has long been associated with the Mardi Gras celebration. Probably because it doesn't get any bigger than Mardi Gras in New Orleans, which has the reputation for absolute debauchery. If you imagine people hanging from balconies over Bourbon Street throwing beads and lifting shirts. The real mardi gras looks nothing like this.
Mardi is the French word for Tuesday, and gras means “fat.” In France, the day before Ash Wednesday came to be known as Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday.”
Mardi Gras is celebrated all over the world, but called "Carnival." The word carnival, another common name for the pre-Lenten festivities, also derives from this feasting tradition: in Medieval Latin, carnelevarium means to take away or remove meat, from the Latin carnem for meat.
Here's everything you need to know about the history of the "real" Mardi Gras.
*This was shot in Fat Tuesday in 2017*
This year celebrate Fat Tuesday with a batch of Ridder's Cajun Jambalaya. And for more things you may not have known about Mardi Gras click here.