The Bilingual Section of IES Valle

de turón (3ºB)…

Presents…

“Mardi Gras”

Probably… the best English Speaking Carnival

in the world!!

What is it?

• Mardi Gras is the name of the Carnival in New Orleans.

• It is a French expresion that means: “Fat Tuesday”• We speak of “Carne” for “Carnaval”• They speak of “Fat”, but the idea is just the same.

Where and When?...

• The Mardi Gras carnival is celebrated in New Orleans, Lousiana and Mobile, Alabama.

• It takes place the Day before Ash Wednesday

Tradition• “Mardi Gras” has been celebrated since

1699 .In that year, the French conquered louisiana.

• It is based on european carnival tradition, specially French, Spanish and British.

…Apart from the Afro American, Creole and Cajoun influence

Culture Mix• “Creole”: Creole

people descend from Spanish and French settlers before the USA bought Louisiana at the beginning of the XIX Century.

• There are also “Creoles of color”, who have an Afroamerican and Native American Origin.

• “Cajun”: These were people from French Canada (Acadians) who were exiled and relocated in South Louisiana.

Food! • Mardi Gras is a festival for eating: When Lent comes, meat and fat are forbidden in the Christian Tradition.

• Some popular dishes are:• Popeye’s Fried Chichen:

Spicy hot. • Gumbo: Made from chicken,

pork sausage, rice, shrimp, okra, celery and other vegetables.

• King Cake: Twisted bread topped with icing or sugar with the traditional carnival colorspurple, green and gold.

…Guess which is which?

Music!Saying New Orleans is talking about Jazz Music!

•Some typical Mardi Gras Tunes Are:

•Carnival Time (By Al Johnson)

•Second Line (Stop Inc)

•Iko Iko (Dixie Cups)

Costumes• Mardi Gras costumes usually take the form

of jesters and other fantasy characters.• The traditional colors are:

• purple (representing justice)• green (associated with faith) • gold (which implies power).

Parades! • “Mardi Gras” celebrations go on day and night but they start one week before.

• The associations that build the floats and prepare the parades are called “Krewes”.

• There are two traditional krewes :

•Zulu club (Mostly black)

•Rex club (Mostly white)

• They are rivals and make parodies of each other at the parades.

Balls!

· The King and Queen work all year for the big spectacular ball. Their identity is a closely guarded secret.

· Most of the balls are a formal and private for the Krewe.· Components are introduced at the Ball Tableau as a Formal introduction to society.

Curious Facts• People throw lots of

multi-colored strings of beads during the parades.

• Inside the King Cake (a coffee cake) you can find a plastic baby which represents fortune.

• There is a “Theme” for every edition of Mardi Gras.

Don’t Miss it!!

Ask a local!-Arthur recommends……Watching the Endymion and

Orpheus Parades. -They are New Orleans´ biggest

parades with 30 floats each and various celebrity guests.

Orpheus and Endymion

Enjoy Mardi Gras!!!!!

THE END