Some thoughts about the real Mardi Gras - The theme song for Mardi Gras is “When the Saints Go Marching In”.  That sets the right tone for Mardi Gras from Galveston, Texas along the gulf coast to Homestead, Florida. 

Jerry, my husband and I learned about the real Mardi Gras in 2004 when we were spending a month in Lower Alabama, along the eastern shores.  After that first experience, we returned to Alabama each year until 2010, during Mardi Gras Season.

Mardi Gras begins on the 12th day of Christmas, when the Kings cake is served. Who ever find the toy baby Jesus in the cake gets to host the next King’s Cake Party. The colors of Mardi Gras were chosen to represent the gifts given to Jesus by the Three Wise Men.  The last day of Mardi Gras is Fat Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday.  The big parades start two weeks before Fat Tuesday.

The history of Mardi Gras is hard to pin down, because it varies from state to state. My resource material comes from:  Mobile Alabama Mardi Gras Museum, Chamber Of Commerce and Welcome Centers for Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and the many people I interview across the Gulf Coast States.

Mardi Gras started in Mobile, then the capital of Louisiana in 1703. Since that time, state lines have changed and Mobile is now in Alabama.  That is why Louisiana claims that they hosted the first Mardi Gras, but Mobile proclaims it is theirs. 

Mardi Gras was not patterned after the Mardi Gras in France; instead the idea was to raise the spirits of the French people who had been evicted from Acadia, which is now Nova Scotia and have a joyful celebration where the rich could help the poor. 

Many people get Mardi Gras confused with Carnival, which takes place in Rio De Janeiro Brazil and the French Quarter in New Orleans. National Television stations present documentation and news pieces about New Orleans French Quarter during Mardi Gras Season. 

In the 1940’s, New Orleans invited a Hollywood celebrity to be their Master of Ceremonies.  After that event, the French Quarter of New Orleans lost control of Mardi Gras and it has become what the rest of Louisiana refers to as “Carnival”.  There are other sections of New Orleans where Mardi Gras Parades are geared for children and people are expected to keep their coats on.

Join the Mardi Gras Parade in Waxahachie on February13, 2010, starting at 3:00 p.m!