Mardi Gras 2013

Ready to wear your purple, green and gold, to catch some beads, and to yell "Throw me somethin' Mister"? Fat Tuesday is quickly approaching! With the big day falling on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, book your room now so you don't miss out on the fun!

This year, revelers are in for atreat. Along with the largest Carnival in the United States, New Orleans will be the host for one of the largest sporting events in the world - Super Bowl XLVII- on February 3, 2012.

To make room for the Big Game, Mardi Gras will be put "on hold" for the weekend leading up to Super Bowl. The city will put aside their Mardi Gras beads and break out their favorite team's jersey, as all Orleans parades pause January 28-February 5 for Super Bowl (on Feb. 3), and resume as usual February 6-12.

Scope out the parade routes, grab your purple, green and gold gear and check out the Mardi Gras Guide to help you prepare for Carnival.

Schedule is as follows:

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6th

January 6th is Twelfth Night, the day that begins the Carnival Season. Phunny Phorty Phellows -Streetcar Route, 7:00 p.m.

JANUARY 19th

• Krewe du Vieux - French Quarter, 6:30 p.m.
• Krewe Delusion - French Quarter 7:15 p.m.

FRIDAY,JANUARY 25th

• Krewe of Cork at 3pm in the French Quarter
• Krewe of Oshun Uptown 6:00 p.m.

SATURDAYJANUARY 26th

• Krewe of Pontchartrain Uptown 2:00 p.m.
• Knights of Sparta Uptown 6:00 p.m.
• Krewe of Pygmalion Uptown 6:45 p.m.

SUNDAYJANUARY 27th

• Krewe of Carrollton Uptown 12:00 p.m.
• Krewe of King Arthur Uptown 1:15 p.m.
• Mystic Krewe of Barkus French Quarter 2:00 p.m. This parade is all for dogs.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3rd SUPER BOWL XLVII in Mercedes Benz Superdome in New Orleans

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6th

• Krewe of Ancient Druids Uptown 6:30 p.m.
• Krewe of Nyx Uptown 7 p.m.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7th

• Krewe of Babylon, Uptown 5:45 p.m.
• Krew of Chaos, Uptown 6:30 p.m.
• Krewe of Muses, Uptown 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 8th

• Divine Protectors of Endangered Pleasures or DIVA French Quarter 1:30 p.m.
• Knights of Hermes Uptown 6:00 p.m.
• d'Etat- Uptown, 6:00 p.m.
• Krewe of Morpheus Uptown 7:00 p.m.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9th

• NOMTOC - Algiers, 10:45 a.m.
  
• Iris - Uptown, 11:00 a.m.
• Tucks - Uptown, 12:00 p.m.
• Endymion - Mid City, 4:15 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10th

• Okeanos - Uptown, 11:00 a.m.
• Mid-City - Uptown, 11:45 p.m.
• Thoth - Uptown, 12:00 a.m.
• Bacchus- Uptown, 5:15 p.m.

LUNDIGRAS, FEBRUARY 11th

• Proteus- Uptown, 5:15 p.m.
• Orpheus - Uptown, 6:00 p.m.
• Lundi Gras Celebration

MARDI GRAS, FEBRUARY 12th

• Zulu- Uptown, 8:00 a.m.
• Rex - Uptown, 10:00 a.m.
• Elks Orleans - Uptown, 11:30 a.m.
• Crescent City - Uptown, follows Elks

Purple, Green and Gold
Throughout the celebration, the traditional Mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold can be seen throughout the city. Flags donning the colors hang from French Quarter balconies, oaktrees are draped with leftover beads and parade-goers' general choice of garb for the season are hues of the traditional Mardi Gras tones. Purple, green andgold officially became the colors of Carnival back in 1872 when Alexis Romanov, Grand Duke of Russia, visited New Orleans for Mardi Gras. In the Duke's honor, the men of Rex adopted the Romanov family colors purple, green and gold, representing justice, fidelity and power.   

The Cake of Kings
King cakes came to New Orleans withthe French, who substituted a tiny baby Jesus doll in place of the medievalbean. The cakes began as round, custard-filled pastries decorated with crowns. King Cakes remain extremely popular throughout the City during the Carnival Season and are often compared to a coffee cake, drizzled in icing and decoratedwith sugar dyed the traditional purple, green and gold. For decades, the king cake has set off a round of parties among New Orleans crowds. Whoever gets thebaby or the bean at the first party had to give a king cake party the following weekend.

Family Friendly Mardi Gras
Although a time of revelry, Mardi Gras in New Orleans is routinely celebrated with the entire family. Many local families come together on the Avenue and set up chairs, ladders, ice chests and tents for the parades. Between parades, cousins play in-promptu games of tag or football while adults grill or relax with their relatives and friends. Ladders are hand painted purple, green and gold and a special kids bench is attached to the top so the little ones can catch their own throws.

Local families also take part in the tradition of costuming. Some families and groups of friends, as large as fifty people, will dress up as a single theme. Costumes range from homemade to ornate and can be focused on anything fromlocal political events, pop culture or traditional costume favorites.

Mardi Gras at a Glance:

• Approximately 1 million people flock to the streets of New Orleans for the two weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday.
• While costumes are not required, most Carnival revelers choose to costume on Mardi Gras day. But wigs, glitter and outrageous outfits are welcome all carnival long!
• Carnival traditions can be seen throughout all New Orleans neighborhoods. Mid-City rolls out the red carpet for the non-traditional parade route of the Krewe of Endymion, the only parade to pass through this part of town. Mardi Gras Indians, who serve as an important part to New Orleans culture and tradition, celebrate Super Sunday around St. Joseph's Day in the neighborhood of Treme.
• Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World is one of the official float-building companies of Mardi Gras. See where Mardi Gras is made at http://www.mardigrasworld.com/.

To learn more, click here .