Mardi Gras refers to events of the Carnival celebration, beginning on or after the Christian feasts of the Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday, which is known as Shrove Tuesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of eating rich, fatty foods before the ritual Lenten sacrifices and fasting of the Lenten season.
The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras or Sydney Mardi Gras is an event in Sydney, New South Wales attended by hundreds of thousands of people from around Australia and overseas. One of the largest such festivals in the world, Mardi Gras is the largest Pride event in Oceania. It includes a variety of events such as the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade and Party, Bondi Beach Drag Races, Harbour Party, the academic discussion panel Queer Thinking, Mardi Gras Film Festival, as well as Fair Day, which attracts 70,000 people to Victoria Park, Sydney.
Rex is a New Orleans Carnival Krewe which stages one of the city's most celebrated parades on Mardi Gras Day. Rex is Latin for "King", and Rex reigns as "The King of Carnival".
Michelle Bauer is an American actress, model, and B-movie scream queen.
The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in southern Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans. Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday, but the season actually begins on King's Day, January 6, and extends until midnight before Ash Wednesday. Club, or Krewe, balls start soon after, though most are extremely private, with their Kings and Queens coming from wealthy old families and their courts consisting of the season's debutantes. Most of the high society Krewes do not stage parades. As Fat Tuesday gets nearer, the parades start in earnest. Usually there is one major parade each day ; many days have several large parades. The largest and most elaborate parades take place the last five days of the Mardi Gras season. In the final week, many events occur throughout New Orleans and surrounding communities, including parades and balls.
Jason William Dohring is an American stage, television and voice actor who is best known for his role as Logan Echolls on the television show Veronica Mars and the 2014 film continuation as well as his roles as Josef Kostan on Moonlight (2007), Adam Carpenter on Ringer (2011), Detective Will Kinney on The Originals (2013) and Chase Graves on iZombie (2015). He is also known as the voice of Terra, one of the main protagonists of the Kingdom Hearts franchise (2010–2019).
Jessica Drake is an American pornographic actress and sex educator.
Irina Vadimovna Voronina is a Russian stand-up comedian, actress, and model. As a model, she was also the Playboy Playmate for January 2001. Irina has been a strong voice against Russia’s war against Ukraine, and participated in “Angels of Ukraine” in Hollywood, CA in August, 2023.
Hawaiian Tropic is an American brand of suntan lotion.
Genevieve Nnaji is a Nigerian actress, producer, and director. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actor to win the award. In 2011, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contributions to Nollywood. Her directorial debut movie, Lionheart, is the first Netflix film from Nigeria and the first Nigerian submission for the Oscars. The movie was disqualified for having most of its dialogue in English. After having spent decades in the movie industry, she was profiled alongside some celebrities and business executives in 2020 in two new books by publisher and Editor in Chief of Yes International! magazine, Azuh Arinze.
Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys are an American Cajun band from southern Louisiana. The band formed in 1988 and has since recorded 10 albums, nine of which are on Rounder Records.
Mardi Gras is the annual Carnival celebration in Mobile, Alabama. It is the oldest official Carnival celebration in the United States, started by Frenchman Nicholas Langlois in 1703 when Mobile was the capital of Louisiana. Although today New Orleans and South Louisiana celebrations are much more widely known for all the current traditions such as masked balls, parades, floats and throws were first created there. From Mobile being the first capital of French Louisiana (1702), the festival began as a French Catholic tradition. Mardi Gras has now evolved into a mainstream multi-week celebration across the spectrum of cultures, becoming school holidays for the final Monday and Tuesday, regardless of religious affiliation.
The Courir de Mardi Gras is a traditional Mardi Gras event held in many Cajun and Creole communities of French Louisiana on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. Courir de Mardi Gras is Louisiana French for "Fat Tuesday Run". This rural Mardi Gras celebration is based on early begging rituals, similar to those still celebrated by mummers, wassailers, and celebrants of Halloween. As Mardi Gras is the celebration of the final day before Lent, celebrants drink and eat heavily, dressing in specialized costumes, ostensibly to protect their identities. In Acadiana, popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, drinking alcohol, begging, trail riding, feasting, and whipping. Mardi Gras is one of the few occasions when people are allowed to publicly wear masks in Louisiana. Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras, a documentary by filmmaker Pat Mire, provides great insight into the history and evolution of this cultural tradition. In popular culture, two HBO series also make reference to the tradition.
Mardi Gras in the United States is not observed nationally across the country, largely due to the country's Protestant and Anglo-Saxon roots. Mardi Gras and Carnival are mostly Catholic holidays, while the United States has a Protestant-majority population. However, a number of cities and regions in the U.S. have notable Mardi Gras or Carnival celebrations. Most of these places trace their Mardi Gras celebrations to French, Spanish, and other Catholic colonial influences on the settlements over their history. The earliest Carnival celebration in North America occurred at a place on the west bank of the Mississippi River about 60 miles (97 km) downriver from where New Orleans is today; this Mardi Gras on March 3, 1699, and in honor of this holiday, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, a 38-year-old French Canadian, named the spot Point du Mardi Gras near Fort Jackson. The earliest organized Carnival celebrations occurred in Mobile, then the capitol of French Louisiana known as Fort Louis de la Mobile, where in 1704 the first known Carnival secret society. In 1856, six Mobile natives established the first secret society, or krewe, in New Orleans, the Mistick Krewe of Comus. Former French and Spanish colonies such as Pensacola, Biloxi, and settlements along the Gulf Coast all followed suit in incorporating Carnival into their annual celebrations, which today have developed either separate traditions or variations of them from one another. In addition, modern activities generally vary from city to city across the U.S.
The Paris Carnival is an annual festival held in Paris, France. The carnival occurs after the Feast of Fools and has been held since the 16th century or earlier, with a long 20th century interregnum.
Mardi Gras Massacre is a 1978 American horror film written and directed by Jack Weis. It is a semi-sequel of the 1963 film Blood Feast. The plot follows a serial killer roaming the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, sacrificing women to an Aztec goddess. The film is notable for its reputation as a "video nasty," having been banned in the United Kingdom upon its release and given an X rating in the United States.
Mardi Gras: Spring Break is a 2011 comedy/road trip film. It stars Nicholas D'Agosto, Josh Gad, Bret Harrison, Arielle Kebbel, Danneel Harris, Regina Hall, and Carmen Electra. It is directed by Phil Dornfield. The film follows a trio of senior college students who visit New Orleans during the Mardi Gras season.
Genevieve Hofmeyr is a South African film producer and managing director of Moonlighting Film Production Services which she co-founded with Phillip Key in 1997. Moonlighting has co-produced several successful feature films, documentaries and television series with major U.S. studios, independent film production companies and international television networks.
The Sons of Tennessee Williams is a 2010 American historical documentary film produced and directed by Tim Wolff. The film spans five decades documenting the gay carnival balls in New Orleans, and the efforts of the gay community to celebrate Mardi Gras, without being discriminated against and without fear of police intervention. It stars Charles Maddox, Tommy Dietsch, George Roth, Don Stratton, Jimmy Keyes, Mike Moreau, John Henry Bogie, Albert Carey, Bianca Del Rio and additional krewe club members that share their memories through interviews and archival footage.
