Learn the varying lingo of Mardi Gras celebrations from New Orleans and the Louisiana countryside.
Parades in New Orleans feature huge floats that host groups of people who toss beads, cups and other trinkets. Stock image/Pixabay
By Jonathan Olivier
Throughout the Mardi Gras season, there are a dizzying array of festivals, balls, and celebrations. It’s often a whirlwind of activity that culminates on Mardi Gras day before going dead quiet on Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the fasting period of Lent. With so much history wrapped into one tradition, there’s a lot to learn. This list includes important Mardi Gras vocabulary that will help you navigate the many festivities during Carnival season.
The Catholic Roots of Mardi Gras
Much of the Mardi Gras vocabulary that exists today has roots in Medieval Catholic traditions. Stock image/Pixabay
Our modern Mardi Gras celebration is a vestige of many of medieval Europe’s Catholic traditions. Much of the Mardi Gras vocabulary that we have today stems from these ancient, storied rituals—even the name itself refers to Christian celebrations. Here are a few important terms that help contextualize important dates of Mardi Gras season.
Epiphany
This Christian feast is celebrated on January 6, commemorating three events: the baptism of Jesus Christ, the miracle at Cana, and the visit of the three Wise Men. This date is the official start of Mardi Gras season. In Louisiana, Kings’ Day and Twelfth Night are also terms used to refer to the Epiphany.
Lent
This is a 40-day fasting period where Catholics and some other Christians abstain from meat on Fridays and are encouraged to make other sacrifices (although in the past fasting was stricter). Adherents use this time to engage in self-reflection and repentance before the celebration of Easter. The first day of Lent is Ash Wednesday, a day of prayer where Catholics receive ashes on their forehead to symbolize death and repentance.
Carnival
The period from the Epiphany to the start of Lent marks Carnival season, more commonly referred to as Mardi Gras season. This period is a time of celebration and indulgence in preparation for the fasting and solemn reflection of Lent. In Louisiana, parades, courirs, balls, and other celebrations take place throughout the season–ramping up to a climax in the week before Mardi Gras day.
Boeuf Gras
Medieval celebrations called Boeuf Gras marked a feast of a fatted ox before Lent. The first carnival celebrations in North America were called Boeuf Gras and held in Mobile, Alabama. While a live bull was part of past Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, today the boeuf makes an appearance as a paper figure.
Fat Tuesday
The English translation of Mardi Gras, this is the last day of Carnival season when people celebrate for the last time before the Lenten period of fasting.
King Cake
A circular cake made with Danish dough, cinnamon, icing, and sprinkles. A plastic baby that’s hidden inside represents Jesus. Typically, these coveted pastries are available from the Epiphany until Fat Tuesday.
New Orleans Mardi Gras Vocabulary
New Orleans parades are operated by krewes, such as the Krewe of Zulu, which is a majority-Black parading organization that dates back to 1916. Stock image/Pixabay
When Jean Baptiste le Moyne Sieur de Bienville landed near present-day New Orleans on March 3, 1699, he named the area la Pointe du Mardi Gras. While celebrations occurred in the area in the following decades, they really kicked off in earnest in the mid 19th century. These events are marked by ornate balls and parades that “roll” around the city throughout Carnival season.
Krewe
First used in 1857 by the Mistick Krewe of Comus, krewe refers to the groups of carnival organizations in New Orleans that organize and ride in parades.
Lundi Gras
Also known as “Fat Monday,” this term originally referred to the arrival of the king of the Rex Krewe by steamboat in New Orleans. In the 1980s, the term came to refer to its own slew of celebrations in the Crescent City.
Ball
Think of these as fancy galas hosted by Mardi Gras Krewes. Typically, there is a presentation of the Krewe’s royal court, which includes a king, queen, grand marshal, maids, and dukes.
Float
The Krewe’s procession of all of its court and other participants rides on floats, often elaborately decorated trailers pulled by vehicles, during a parade. Spectators stand nearby to catch an array of trinkets, called throws, which includes beads, doubloons, cups, and more.
Flambeaux
Before streetlights, torches lined the parade route so that the Krewe and spectators could see. These groups were often made up of enslaved Africans or free people of color who danced along with the parade. Today, groups of people still carry torches lit by kerosene.
Neutral Ground
This is the median between streets, often grassy and planted with trees, where spectators can watch a parade. This is to be differentiated from the “sidewalk side,” the other option for viewing parades. The term “neutral ground” originates from the median on Canal St, which divided the old French-speaking Creole city from the new English-speaking American city during the 19th century.
Mardi Gras Indians
These troupes of Black New Orleanians don elaborate costumes that are handmade throughout the year. They parade and dance on Mardi Gras Day in a Creole tradition commemorating the comradery of Africans and Native Americans in resisting racism. While Mardi Gras is an important day of celebration for Black Masking Indians, these practices continue yearlong, such as during “Super Sunday” in the spring.
Rex
Founded in 1872, Rex is one of the oldest krewes in the Crescent City. The krewe parades on Mardi Gras Day, and its king and queen are generally known as king and queen of Carnival.
Zulu
Founded in 1916, the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club is the most prominent Black Mardi Gras organization and the only major majority-Black parading krewe. Zulu parades on Mardi Gras Day before Rex, and the kings of the two parades meet annually for a symbolic toast as part of the celebration.
Mardi Gras Vocabulary in Southwest Louisiana
Mardi Gras traditions in southwest Louisiana differ from their New Orleans counterparts. Ethan Castille/Télé-Louisiane
While Mardi Gras parades are common in southwest Louisiana, this region engages in its own variation of the tradition, called Courir de Mardi Gras. In several small towns around the Louisiana prairie, people dress up and roam the countryside, begging for gumbo ingredients from their neighbors. At the end of the day, revelers join together in town for a communal gumbo and music.
Capitaine
Courir de Mardi Gras participants take their orders from the capitaine who is the leader of the procession through the countryside. The only unmasked participant in the group, the capitaine is mounted on a horse and keeps order, and communicates with neighbors to gather gumbo ingredients.
Le Mardi Gras
The group of participants in the Courir de Mardi Gras is collectively referred to as the “mardi gras.”
Capuchon
The conical hat is the most recognizable part of the Courir de Mardi Gras costume. In medieval France, this tradition involved participants dressing up to mock the clergy and noble men and women. The capuchon is thought to have originated from revelers mocking the “hennin,” or tall hats worn by French noble women.
Courir
In French, courir means “to run.” Thus, the event itself is a Mardi Gras run. Throughout the day, the group of participants runs on foot or horseback through the countryside.
Chicken Chase
The mardi gras roams the countryside, visiting the houses of different neighbors in search of gumbo ingredients. While this can be rice or sausage, neighbors will often offer up a fowl of some sort, most commonly a chicken. The mardi gras then chases after the chicken. Some traditions, such as the Faquetaigue event in Eunice, features participants climbing a greased pole in order to reach a caged chicken sitting above.