March newspaper article re Mardi Gras

The spirit of Mardi Gras was ever evident in New Iberia, Louisiana, during our time there in January and February. The Carnival Season begins on the Feast of the Epiphany (Twelfth Night – January 6th) and ends at Midnight on Mardi Gras (“fat Tuesday”) the day before Ash Wednesday. Carnival can be translated to mean a farewell to the flesh. Though Mardi Gras actually refers to just the one day (the Tuesday before the first day of Lent), rather than refer to “Carnival”, it is common to call it the Mardi Gras season, with balls, parades and other festivities taking place throughout the entire period, January 6th to Mardi Gras day.

The brilliant Mardi Gras colors are very symbolic. Purple symbolizes justice, green symbolizes faith, and gold symbolizes power.

A Mardi Gras tradition is the King Cake. It originated in 12th century France to celebrate the visit to the Christ Child by the three kings (or Three Wise Men). The cake is circular in shape and decorated with sugar in the three colors of Mardi Gras representing a king’s bejeweled crown. In times gone by, the plastic or ceramic figure of a baby was hidden in the cake to represent the difficult time the three Wise Men had finding the Christ Child and the gifts brought. Whoever found the baby in their piece of cake was supposed to buy the next King Cake. Nowadays, at most outlets, the baby just lays on the top of the cake.

Each community in Mardi Gras country has at least one large parade. In the urban centres, especially New Orleans, their parades are very elaborate. There are various named organizations, called “Krewes”. Each Krewe has its own royalty: King, Queen, Maids and Dukes elected annually. Each Krewe holds an annual themed masked ball at which that year’s court is presented to the rest of the Krewe. Prior to the ball, members of the court are kept secret. The themed masked balls are very sophisticated affairs. Some of the parades are conducted by separate Krewes. Items thrown from parade floats by Krewe members include beads, plastic cups with the Krewe’s crest, doubloons bearing the Krewe’s crest and some referent to the theme of that year’s ball, or toys.

Over the years we have attended mostly small town Mardi Gras parades. They reminded us of small town Saskatchewan parades where everyone in the community is involved, and everyone is safe and having a good time. The larger centers’ parades are more boisterous and sometimes not all that safe.

This year, although there was no actual Mardi Gras parade in the area while we were there, as volunteers, we were treated to an all-you-can-eat boiled shrimp feast hosted by the Methodist Church. They invited the over 80 MDS and other volunteers they knew of. The feast was delicious, and as an added bonus, the Krewe of the Methodist Church gave us a mini Mardi Gras parade in the dining hall. As we were enjoying the feast, about a dozen beautifully costumed Krewe members including this year’s King and Queen, accompanied by lively taped Cajun Mardi Gras music, wove in and around the guests, placing strands of Mardi Gras beads around each guest’s neck. It was a highlight of our time in Louisiana.