History of Mardi Gras

What is Mardi Gras? Why do we celebrate it? Those questions are more common than you think. Mardi Gras is a French holiday that had been celebrated in Paris since the Middle Ages. The French explorer Iberville brought the tradition with him when he came to America in 1699. The traditional date of Mardi Gras in France in 1699 was on March 3, the day that Iberville set up camp on the shore of the Mississippi, 60 miles south of where New Orleans is today. He named the spot Point du Mardi Gras in honor of the special date.

In the 1700's masked balls were common in New Orleans area before Lent when the French ruled the area. When the Spanish took over rule the practice was banned. It wasn't until 1823 the masked balls were allowed to begin again. Shortly after that in 1827 wearing masks and celebrating in the streets was allowed. It is various social clubs that organize the Mardi Gras celebrations not the city or government.

The first documented Mardi Gras parade was in 1837. In the 1840's to 1850's Mardi Gras celebrations got violent and there was a call to end the practice of celebrating Mardi Gras. In 1857 the Comus organization was formed. This was the group that organized the parades and balls. 1871 was the year that the king cake tradition began. In 1872, Russian royalty visited New Orleans and the "King of Carnival" tradition began. This was the year that the Mardi Gras colors of gold, green and purple were introduced. It was reported that the colors were from the Russian monarchy. From the years of 1872 till 1916 many different carnival characters were introduced such as the Rex King.