Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
	Celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Also called	Fat Tuesday, Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Tuesday
Type	Christian, cultural
Significance	Celebration period before fasting season of Lent
Celebrations	Parades, parties
Date	Day before Ash Wednesday, 47 days before Easter, 2 days after Shrove Sunday
2024 date	February 13
2025 date	March 4
2026 date	February 17
2027 date	February 9
Frequency	Annual
Related to	Shrove Tuesday, Carnival, Shrove Monday, Pre-Lent, Ash Wednesday, Lent, Užgavėnės, Maslenitsa

Mardi Gras (UK: /ˌmɑːrdi ˈɡrɑː/, US: /ˈmɑːrdi ɡrɑː/;^[1]^[2] also known as Shrove Tuesday) is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday.^[3] Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being the last day of consuming rich, fatty foods, most notably red meat, in preparation for the Christian fasting season of Lent, during which such foods are avoided.^[4]

Related popular practices are associated with Carnival celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. In countries such as the United Kingdom, Mardi Gras is more usually known as Pancake Day or (traditionally) Shrove Tuesday, derived from the word shrive, meaning "to administer the sacrament of confession to; to absolve".^[5]

^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.
^ Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.
^ "Mardi Gras (n.)". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/9489225210. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
^ Cite error: The named reference Rose1995 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Melitta Weiss Adamson, Francine Segan (2008). Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313086892. In Anglican countries, Mardis Gras is known as Shrove Tuesday—from shrive meaning "confess"—or Pancake Day—after the breakfast food that symbolizes one final hearty meal of eggs, butter, milk and sugar before the fast. On Ash Wednesday, the morning after Mardi Gras, repentant Christians return to church to receive upon the forehead the sign of the cross in ashes.

[1] Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.

[2] Jones, Daniel (2011). Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (eds.). Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-15255-6.

[3] "Mardi Gras (n.)". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/OED/9489225210. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)

[Rose1995-4] Cite error: The named reference Rose1995 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[Melitta_Weiss_Adamson,_Francine_Segan_2008-5] Melitta Weiss Adamson, Francine Segan (2008). Entertaining from Ancient Rome to the Super Bowl. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9780313086892. In Anglican countries, Mardis Gras is known as Shrove Tuesday—from shrive meaning "confess"—or Pancake Day—after the breakfast food that symbolizes one final hearty meal of eggs, butter, milk and sugar before the fast. On Ash Wednesday, the morning after Mardi Gras, repentant Christians return to church to receive upon the forehead the sign of the cross in ashes.

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