Saturday, May 28, 2011

Mardi Gras

Sender: tobiejonzarelli

"Masking and Madness, Mardi Gras in New Orleans" - tobiejonzarelli wrote about Mardi Gras. I have heard of this celebration before but did not know that it has its roots in preparing for the start of Lent. To me, catching beads and doubloons from floats sounds like a wonderful experience, and so do masking, music and dancing.

I read further on the net that Mardi Gras is scheduled 47 days before Easter (the 40 days of Lent, plus seven Sundays). That each parade reflects a specific subject and the floats then follow the theme for that year. Maskers are costumed according to the parade theme and the individual float title. Among the more popular subjects have been history, children's stories, legends, geography, famous people, entertainment, mythology and literature. Mardi Gras has traditional colours which are purple, green and gold whereby purple represents justice, green stands for faith, and gold signifies power.

"Mardi Gras is the love of life. It is the harmonic convergence of our food, our music, our creativity, our eccentricity, our neighbourhoods, and our joy of living. All at once." says a New Orleans resident.

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