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As I write, the Mardi Gras is currently going on in New Orleans…not only celebrating this city's historical event but also the winning of the Super Bowl last week-end by the New Orleans Saints. A huge celebration of fantastic food, cultural events, music and family fun, the Mardi Gras parade is something that makes this city celebration stand out with religious backgrounds.

The word Mardi Gras refers to "Fat Tuesday" which refers to the last night of being able to eat rich and fatty foods before Ash Wednesday, a ritual fasting of the first day of the Lenten season (falling this year on  February 17, 2010). An important Roman Catholic holiday, Ash Wednesday begins the season of preparation for Easter Sunday when Jesus Christ is said to resurrect.

The Mardi Gras celebrations of many cities involve masks and costumes, dance, form competitions, parades, and overturn many social conventions.  Whereas England calls Mardi Gras "Shrove Tuesday", it also is associated with a religious requirement for confession prior to the beginning of Lent.

The Mardi Gras Parades are what makes the Mardi Gras what it is, unless sleet and bad weather cancels them out like it did this year for a couple of days. After this, the "Boeuf Graf Society" was formed in 1710 which formed parades from 1700 to 1861. The first parades were held with a huge bull's head pushed by 16 men on wheels on Fat Tuesday. With a history that goes back to Medieval Europe, the parades consisted of brass bands, beautiful Mardi Gras colors, and lots of Kings.

In 1704, the secret society of "Masque de la Mobile" lasted until 1710, an organization which is similar to today's Mardi Gras Krewes.  A second Krewe formed in 1871, called "The Twelfth Night Reveler's".  By the 1730s, Louisiana's Governor had established elegant society balls which are the model for the New Orleans Mardi Gras balls of today.

Eventually, previously made in France, the Mardi Gras floats begun to be made in New Orleans in 1873, with Governor Warmoth of Louisiana in 1875 making the Mardi Gras a legal Louisiana holiday.  Today, the majority of Mardi Gras Krewes have developed from private social clubs with very restrictive membership policies, completely funding the parade organizations.