MARDI GRAS 2017
Come celebrate Mardi Gras, 2017 with us on February 28th, Fat Tuesday. The past three years I have tried to book our Mardi Gras event on Fat Tuesday, but the room was already booked. This year, we get Fat Tuesday! There will be King’s cake or three and we'll have a raffle for some great prizes, with maybe a geocoin or two. Donations of prizes always welcome.
When: Fat Tuesday, February the 28th, 2017
Where: Round Table Pizza
9500 Greenback Lane
Folsom, CA 95630
(916) 989-1133
Time: 6:00pm to 9:00pm
From wiki:
Mardi Gras; (meaning "Fat Tuesday") is an annual Carnival celebration in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
The New Orleans Carnival season, a variation of the traditional manner of preparing for the start of the Catholic season of Lent, starts after Twelfth Night, on Epiphany (January 6). It is a season of parades, balls (some of them masquerade balls), and king cake parties. It has traditionally been part of the winter social season; which at one time was when parties for Southern Society women, dÉbutante balls, were arranged.
Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Fat Tuesday (Mardi Gras in French), the day before Ash Wednesday. Usually there is one major parade each day (weather permitting); many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the season. In the final week of Carnival, many events large and small occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities. Neighboring communities also hold Carnival celebrations.
The parades in New Orleans are organized by Carnival krewes. Krewe float riders toss throws to the crowds; the most common throws are strings of colorful plastic beads, doubloons (aluminum or wooden dollar-sized coins usually impressed with a krewe logo), decorated plastic throw cups, and small inexpensive toys. Major krewes follow the same parade schedule and route each year.
While many tourists center their Mardi Gras season activities on Bourbon Street and the French Quarter, none of the major Mardi Gras parades has entered the Quarter since 1972 because of its narrow streets and overhead obstructions. Instead, major parades originate in the Uptown and Mid-City districts and follow a route along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street, on the upriver side of the French Quarter. Exposing body parts, or "flashing", in an effort to catch more beads or throws, is frowned upon by the police department and can be grounds for a ticket or an arrest. Though it is a growing trend for uninhibited, mostly younger women to show their breasts, this practice mostly only takes place on and around Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. The Uptown and Mid-City parade routes are family-friendly gatherings for citizens of all ages to enjoy the parades.
"Mardi Gras" specifically refers to the Tuesday before lent, the highlight of the season. The term can also be used less specifically the whole Carnival season, sometimes as "the Mardi Gras season". The term "Fat Tuesday" or "Mardi Gras Day" always refers only to that specific day.