What is Mardi Gras?
If you’re a College Care Package Company customer from the western or northern states, you may be wondering what our Mardi Gras boxes are all about.
When you’re from southeast Texas, a close neighbor to our friends from Louisiana, where Mardi Gras is celebrated BIG, you’ve grown up with the purple, green and yellow beads, fleurs de lis, feathers and Cajun food your whole life. We live in the Houston area, and some of our best friends are relocated Louisianans who travel back to their hometowns for the big parades and parties centered around Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday. But what exactly is it?
Fat Tuesday (literally the English translation of the French phrase Mardi Gras) is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent. This year, Fat Tuesday is next week, Feb. 13th. Traditionally, it is a time to binge on rich, fatty foods, in anticipation of several weeks of eating only fish (or other different types of fasting).
Although Fat Tuesday is a huge day to our Louisianan friends, the party has, in recent years, stretched to week-long festivities, with tons of parades, each float having its own Krewe. Krewes have their own unique history and theme, and it’s a very fierce competition and honor to get to participate in a Krewe. Suffice it to say, these parade floats are filled with people decked out in colorful costumes, crowns, feathers, and masks. And they toss beads and other goodies, like doubloons, toys, edible treats and more. The Zulu Krewe even passes out decorated coconuts, one of the most sought-after treats from any parade. Check out some of the most unique “throws” here: https://www.neworleans.com/events/holidays-seasonal/mardi-gras/signature-throws/#:~:text=Decorated%20Zulu%20coconuts%20are%20perhaps,will%20walk%20away%20with%20them.
What else symbolizes Mardi Gras? KING CAKES. King Cake is made of a rich, brioche dough with fillings, like cinnamon, chocolate, and cream cheese. It’s topped with glaze and sprinkles, in Mardi Gras colors of purple, green, and gold. And… there’s a small plastic baby inside each cake. Whomever gets the piece of cake with the baby inside will be favored with luck and prosperity. EVERYONE wants the baby.
Probably the most popular item in the College Care Package Company’s Mardi Gras boxes is the mini-king cake. It’s something many students have enjoyed at home for their whole life but may not get a chance to enjoy when celebrating Mardi Gras from a distance. Other items include, of course, LOTS of beads, chocolate coins in Mardi Gras colors, crowns for the guys, and boas, feathered headbands, and elaborate feathered masks for the girls. We also include a bag of Zapp’s Voodoo chips, a well-known cajun snack.
It’s not just Louisianans who celebrate Mardi Gras. You’ll find celebrations in other southern states, like Mississippi, Alabama, Texas and more! Galveston Island, in Texas, has a great Mardi Gras two-weekend celebration – with live entertainment, balcony parties and parades – that attracts up to 200,000 revelers each year.
For more official information on Mardi Gras, click here: https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/mardi-gras. Or call anyone you know from Louisiana or Southeast Texas. It’s a big deal down here.