BY ADAM BAILEY 

Mardi Gras. Two little words with an infinitely large explanation.  For different people, it means different things—an event, an idea, a day, a way of life, a piece of history, a state holiday, or a million parades and countless memories. If you think you know Mardi Gras, think again!

3.Carnival is celebrated not just in New Orleans, but all over the world.

Louisiana is the only state in which Mardi Gras is a legal holiday—and parades and festivities will take place all over the state—from New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Lafayette to Alexandria, Lake Charles, Monroe, and, yes, right here in Shreveport-Bossier. However, elaborate carnival festivities draw crowds in other parts of the United States during the Mardi Gras season as well, including Mobile, Alabama, and St. Louis, Missouri. Each region has its own events and traditions. Across the globe, pre-Lenten festivals continue to take place in many countries with significant Roman Catholic populations.

Brazil’s weeklong Carnival festivities feature a vibrant amalgam of European, African, and native traditions. In Canada, Quebec City hosts the giant Quebec Winter Carnival. In Italy, tourists flock to Venice’s Carnevale, which dates to the 13th century and is famous for its masquerade balls.

Known as Karneval, Fastnacht or Fasching, the German celebration includes parades, costume balls and a tradition that empowers women to cut off men’s ties. For Denmark’s Fastevlan, children dress up and gather candy in a similar manner to Halloween—although the parallel ends when they ritually flog their parents on Easter Sunday morning.

7.What are Mardi Gras krewes? And what does it cost to join?

The Shreveport-Bossier area is home to some of Louisiana’s largest parading Mardi Gras organizations—known locally as Mardi Gras clubs or “krewes” (pronounced the same way as “crew”). These krewes produce a busy calendar of parties, parades, and other events each Carnival season. Many krewes act as secret societies and make sure their participants’ identities are never publicized (which is why krewe members wear elaborate masks during parades). Each Krewe builds a float to represent their specific theme on parade days and features a celebrity guest to regal their audience.

Want to join a krewe and ride in a parade? Joining a krewe in Shreveport-Bossier is really quite simple. While dues vary, membership typically allows you to ride in the parade and attend the ball and other events throughout the year. For example, membership in the Krewe of Centaur—the largest Mardi Gras Krewe in north Louisiana—are $150 per person a year. Membership includes the opportunity to ride a throwing float or be in a walking-marching group in the parade, attendance to monthly meetings, full voting privileges, Krewe parade liability insurance, monthly newsletters, float group parties and events throughout the year, discounted ticket costs to Krewe parties and events. 

Due to the membership size of many of the krewes—some over 500 members—float ridership privileges are treasured and are becoming harder and harder to come by. The sooner you join in the new Mardi Gras year, and sign up for a position, the more likely it is you will find a float position.

Also, it’s important to remember if you do get the opportunity to ride in a parade—you have to pay for beads and trinkets for the entire parade route, which aren’t cheap.

8.Why do krewe’s have Royalty?  

On its surface, the election of Royalty may seem comical. However, being chosen is a very special honor and is taken very seriously by krewes in the area. Mardi Gras Royalty are typically elected because of their contributions and standing in the community. Being chosen to represent a Krewe as a King or Queen is an honor that announces to the community at large that these people have made our city a better place and we recognize their hard work and dedication. So, be sure to raise your cup and toast every King and Queen this Mardis Gras season!

10.The King Cake, a traditional dessert, has biblical roots. What is the meaning of the baby?

By far the most delicious of Mardi Gras traditions is the King Cake and dates back to the Medieval Times when French, Belgian, and Spanish cultures commemorated the 12th day of Christmas with gifts and sweets. And, like many Christian folk traditions, it may originally have had pagan origins. During Saturnalia—the ancient Roman winter solstice celebration of the deity Saturn—the person who found a special item hidden in a cake would be “king of the day.”  Biblically, the kings during this time would have been visiting the newborn baby Jesus—bringing gifts and sweets of their own. That’s where the “king” in king cake comes from. However, the precise reason behind the tiny baby figure in the cake may be a little bit more down-to-earth.  In the 1940s, a New Orleans baker chanced upon a surplus supply of French porcelain dollhouse figures that first gave the cake that local spin.

Traditionally, a king cake is a coffeecake type pastry, fried and doughy, glazed and frosted, typically in the Mardi Gras colors. They’re usually circular and braided, to resemble a King’s crown. Most cakes are baked with a tiny baby figurine on the inside, and whomever finds the toy—as tradition holds—must host the next big party (or at least buy the next year’s king cake).

Just remember … pace yourself!

Carnival is a season; Mardi Gras is a day. It’s unlike anything you’ve ever experienced—and everyone experiences it in their own way, whether ensconced along a parade route, hopping between house parties, or wandering the festive streets with family and friends. However you do it, remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. 

Laissez les bon temps rouler!