Long associated with the City of New Orleans, Mardi Gras - or "Fat Tuesday" - is the final day of Carnival, which begins on the Feast of the Epiphany, January 6.

Also known as Three Kings' Day or Twelfth Night, January 6 celebrates the arrival of the three kings at Jesus' birthplace, thus ending the Christmas season. In New Orleans, Carnival begins simultaneously.

The festival has its roots in various pagan celebrations of spring, dating back 5,000 years. Pope Gregory XIII made it a Christian holiday when, in 1582, he put it on his Gregorian calendar. He placed Mardi Gras on the day before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. That way, all the debauchery would be finished when it came time to fast and pray.

Much of the first part of the Carnival season is invitation-only coronation balls and supper dances hosted by private clubs known as krewes. The public portion comes to life a couple of weeks before Mardi Gras when the krewes hit the streets, staging more than 70 parades in metropolitan New Orleans.

See the live webcam of New Orleans Uptown Streetcar and Mardi Gras Parades.

Mardi Gras Day occurs on Tuesday, February 16 in 2010.

---

---

Cajun Country

If you want to make money, go to Wall Street. If you want to catch trout, try Montana. If you're ready to party, head for Cajun Country.

Other cultures have great food and music and dance, but no other ethnic group puts the three together with more spice and joie de vivre than the Cajuns.

"Laissez les bon temps rouler! Let the good times roll!"

Mardi Gras Murder Mystery
Bumped Off on Bourbon Street