Mardi Gras is a holiday often celebrated on Fat Tuesday, which is the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, and the start of Lent. This year, Mardi Gras was on March 1, 2022. The word “mardi” means Tuesday and “gras” means fat in French. Traditionally, the days leading up to Lent, people would binge eat and prepare to fast during Lent. Mardi Gras is the last day before Lent. Mardi Gras originated from medieval Europe and has been a tradition since and is often celebrated with parades. During the parades, people often dressed up with masks and large floats would go around tossing candies and necklaces to the people watching the parade. There would also be music and food along with the celebration.
Mardi Gras was celebrated at Morristown-West in the French IV class March 1. Decorations were set up, and the French IV class read a short article about Mardi Gras, the reason behind it and how it was celebrated. The class also had King Cake, which is a pastry that has icing on top with a sweet filling inside. There is often a small figurine inside the cake and traditionally, whoever gets the piece of cake with the figurine inside, would host the celebration the following year.
