Published: February 07, 2007 09:21 am         

Bringing Carnival to you!

The Carnival season is all about celebration. The festivities begin on Twelfth Night, which occurs 12 days after Christmas, or January 6. It is also known as the Epiphany, which marks the day the gift-bearing Magi visited baby Jesus. The parties continue until the culmination of the Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) extravaganza, which always occurs 47 days before Easter. Mardi Gras and Easter take place on a different day each year based upon the lunar calendar the Catholic Church uses to determine Easter. This year, Mardi Gras occurs on February 20, with Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday falling on February 21 and April 8, respectively.

The festivities came to New Orleans in 1699, when settlers



of French descent were introduced to the area. Mardi Gras was celebrated along the banks of the Mississippi River and the extravaganza grew in scale every year. New Orleanians have added to the celebration by establishing krewes, or organizations that are responsible for hosting parades and balls. Each year a "king" of the Mardi Gras parade is chosen, and often his identity remains a secret until that very night.

The official colors of Mardi Gras were chosen in 1872 by the King of Carnival, Rex. Purple represents justice, green stands for faith and gold stands for power. Jesters, parade participants and onlookers are all decked out in these signature colors during Carnival.

Despite the devastation that occurred in the Gulf Coast in 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina, Mardi Gras was celebrated in the city of New Orleans that year with much success. However, if you are unable to make it to the celebration in the Big Easy this year, you can certainly stage your own New Orleans-inspired Mardi Gras party at home for friends and family. Here's what you'll need:



· A Sense of Humor: Mardi Gras is about debauchery, masquerade and a good time.



· King Cake: King cakes are an integral part of the festivities. These cakes are baked in an oval shape to represent the unity of faith while honoring the Magi who visited Jesus. The cakes are decorated in green, purple and gold - the official colors of Mardi Gras. Each cake features a plastic hidden "baby" baked inside to represent Jesus. The fun lies in discovering whose piece of cake contains the baby. Tradition states that the person whose piece contains the baby will have good luck for that year, but is also customary for that person to bring the king cake to next year's celebration.



· Masks and Beads: You'll certainly want to rival the thrill of the parades with krewes and king in tow. Have plenty of feathered and sequined masks on hand for partygoers. Beads are also a big part of Mardi Gras, and often rain down from parade floats to the waiting hands of revelers. It is generally considered bad karma to throw beads back at floats or krewe members, however. Make sure your guests have plenty of beads to toss at your own party.



· Feathers: It is New Orleans tradition for Mardi Gras Indians to display their new feathers during the celebration. This marks the kinship between escaped African American slaves who sought refuge with Louisiana's Native Americans.



· Cajun Cooking: What would a New Orleans-inspired fête be without some Cajun delights? Serve Big Easy favorites like crawfish, gumbo and any other hot and spicy dish with which you want to get creative.