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There is such a buzz going on down here about Mardi Gras and it started back around the holidays....I remember a pre-mardi gras parade as far back as Thanksgiving. For those of you not from the area (like myself), you really should visit down here around this time, particularly within the 10 days leading up to Fat Tuesday, which will be March 8th this year. For all of our local friends and our guests as well, I've compiled a bit of information about the beginning of what we now call "Mardi Gras". Also, here's a link for the Mobile, Fairhope, Gulf Shores, Orange Beach & Pensacola Mardi Gras Parade schedules: http://www.gulfshores.com/things-to-do/calendar-events/default.aspx?viewall=1
Like I said, I'm not from the area, I moved to Gulf Shores, Alabama from Louisville, Kentucky, and like most people who aren't from this area, I assumed that Mardi Gras originated in New Orleans, Louisiana. Boy was I wrong! I've done quite a bit of homework on the subject recently and found that Mardi Gras actually originated here in Alabama...In Mobile to be exact. On a side note: I also found out that New Orleans wasn't the original capital of Louisiana (guess I missed that lesson in grade school! I will talk more about this in a bit). As most people know, Mardi Gras is a festival that traditionally precedes the Catholic Lenten period, ending the day before Ash Wednesday. The name is French for "Fat Tuesday," which is the last day of merriment and feasting and refers to the traditional practice of eating a fattened calf in preparation for the fasting and self-sacrifice of Lent.
A type of Mardi Gras celebration first came to what is now Alabama with the early French explorers, who were led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. He recorded the first observance of Mardi Gras in Mobile in his journal in 1699. Men in the camp marked the occasion with feasts, dancing, and a night of masked revelry. The celebration was originally called Boef Gras (Fat Beef).
After the construction of Fort Louis de la Mobile (1700–1702), the settlers celebrated Mardi Gras in Mobile in 1703, beginning an annual tradition, only occasionally canceled because of war. The Carnivale began on Twelfth Night (January 6) with torch-lit processions.
Mobile was originally the capital for the entire area (Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama), which the French settlers called "La Louisiane". It wasn't until 1720 when Biloxi became the 2nd capital of Louisiana.
As I mentioned briefly above, New Orleans wasn't always the capital of Louisiana. It wasn't until 1723 that the capital was moved to the inland port, "Nouvelle-Orléans" (New Orleans), due to fear of tides and hurricanes. This is 24 years after the Mardi Gras celebrations began in Mobile...Which may or may not settle some age long debates that have been going on down here between Cajuns and Alabamians for centuries over which is the "Original Mardi Gras"....
The Mardi Gras that we know now (full of parades, floats, picnics, balls, secret societies) some say started when on New Year's Eve, 1830, Michael Krafft and his friends were reluctant to end a dinner party at the customary time. They raided a nearby hardware store, took up rakes, hoes and cowbells and proceeded to wake the town. They soon formed the Cowbellion de Rakin Society, the first of Mobile's many modern mystic organizations. The Cowbellions presented their first parade, complete with floats and theme, in 1840.
Mardi Gras has evolved over centuries in the Mobile area, nighttime parades and other public festivities begin about 10 days before Mardi Gras Day. Carnival Season balls, receptions and other private functions begin in November and continue through Mardi Gras Day.
