Mardi Gras: The Fatter origin
Whenever people think of holiday parades there is one that comes in mind towards the beginning of year. “Mardi Gras” is a holiday celebrated in the form of a parade that includes colorful parties with the classic purple, green and gold. This celebration has an emblematic, colorful and delicious king cake. Mardi Gras is holiday that meant to be predecessor or preparation for Easter.
Mardi Gras comes from the word “Mardi” which translates from French “Tuesday” and “Gras” means “Fat”. In France, Mardi Gras must occur on a Tuesday before “Ash Wednesday” (Miercoles de Ceniza in Spanish) and Mardi Gras “Fat Tuesday.”
Mardi Gras is always the Tuesday before the Lenten period, but it actually starts in January. Three Kings’ Day (Dia de los Reyes) symbolizes the end of the 12 days Christmas, on January 6, and the beginning of the Mardi Gras festival.
Mardi Gras origin comes from thousands of years ago based on pagan spring arrival festivals. This holiday has been compared to the Saturnalia and Lupercalia festivals since these resemble similar traditions or rituals during all these holidays. With the arrival of Christianity to Rome, religious groups tried to combine pagan traditions with the new Christian traditions. The merging of these traditions resulted in the festival of Mardi Gras where people danced, partied, ate and drink alcohol before the Christian period of Lent, which occurs as a preparation for Easter.
Some people argue that these festivals started as a way to counter the banning of sex and meat eating from the Catholic Church during Lent. The main purpose of this festival was to party and indulge as much as possible before Lent. It is said by some historians that the creation of this festival was more a more competitive reason towards a different kind of religion rather than celebrating something meaningful and respectful for their culture.
Back in the day, previous days before Lent, “Merrymakers” (party organizers) would gather all their remaining or leftover fatty foods. People would gather all their lard, cheese, milk, eggs, meat and many other items for this festival. This would be a preparation to the upcoming Lent fasting of only eating fish for weeks.
The Mardi Gras festival was also known as a “carnival” since this is considered a “Pre-Lenten” festivity, or feasting tradition. In the old language of Latin, the word carnival derives from the word “Carnelevarium” which means to get meat from the “Carnem” which means meat.
Mardi Gras has a confusing origin. Even as this celebration comes from pagan Roman origin, it was not known as “Mardi Gras” until this holiday was able to spread all over Europe, eventually reaching France. The name Mardi Gras comes from France, but in other places such as England, this holiday is known as “Shrove Tuesday” or “Pancake Day.” This would not be the first and last holiday that originates from a different country and has been adapted as part of American holidays.
This entire holiday started in ancient Rome, it was later brought all over Europe and eventually it reached the United States of America in the late 1600s. In the year 1699, Mardi Gras became an official holiday thanks to the French explorer Pierre Le Moyne D’Iberville. Le Moyne migrated to modern day New Orleans, Louisiana, where he started spreading and celebrating Mardi Gras within the NOLA community. People received this holiday very well and it spread throughout the U.S., where the festival became popularized and official.
A few centuries later, New Orleans and other French settlements spread the holiday and its dishes with the community. This was banned until 1812 when Louisiana became an official U.S. state after the Spanish had taken over this land.
Mardi Gras has become a major holiday and festival celebrated in the U.S., inclusive of our Imperial Valley. This past Saturday, February 18, there was a Mardi Gras Parade and Street Festival in El Centro. In this parade, people had the opportunity to see local dancers, local school band performances, desserts, drinks and food that represent the spirit that the Imperial Valley has for the Mardi Gras Festival every year. Mardi Gras is without any doubt one of the most joyful and delicious holiday to celebrate with the Imperial Valley community.
Imperial Valley resident A. Ricardo Heredia is a middle school teacher in Yuma, Arizona, a master’s degree student at CETYS University and a local musician. He is a history major and researcher in European and Greek mythology. He can be reached at aheredia96@hotmail.com.