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N0KFQ > TODAY 27.02.17 15:24l 58 Lines 2623 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 24525_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Feb 27
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ
Sent: 170227/1321Z 24525@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ6.0.13
1827
New Orleanians take to the streets for Mardi Gras
On this day in 1827, a group of masked and costumed students
dance through the streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, marking the
beginning of the city's famous Mardi Gras celebrations.
The celebration of Carnival - or the weeks between Twelfth Night on
January 6 and Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Catholic
period of Lent - spread from Rome across Europe and later to the
Americas. Nowhere in the United States is Carnival celebrated as
grandly as in New Orleans, famous for its over-the-top parades
and parties for Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday), the last day of the
Carnival season.
Though early French settlers brought the tradition of Mardi Gras
to Louisiana at the end of the 17th century, Spanish governors of
the province later banned the celebrations. After Louisiana
became part of the United States in 1803, New Orleanians managed
to convince the city council to lift the ban on wearing masks and
partying in the streets. The city's new Mardi Gras tradition
began in 1827 when the group of students, inspired by their
experiences studying in Paris, donned masks and jester costumes
and staged their own Fat Tuesday festivities.
The parties grew more and more popular, and in 1833 a rich
plantation owner named Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville
raised money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration. After
rowdy revelers began to get violent during the 1850s, a secret
society called the Mistick Krewe of Comus staged the first
large-scale, well-organized Mardi Gras parade in 1857.
Over time, hundreds of krewes formed, building elaborate and
colorful floats for parades held over the two weeks leading up to
Fat Tuesday. Riders on the floats are usually local citizens who
toss "throws" at passersby, including metal coins, stuffed toys
or those now-infamous strands of beads. Though many tourists
mistakenly believe Bourbon Street and the historic French Quarter
are the heart of Mardi Gras festivities, none of the major
parades have been allowed to enter the area since 1979 because of
its narrow streets.
In February 2006, New Orleans held its Mardi Gras celebrations
despite the fact that Hurricane Katrina had devastated much of
the city with massive flooding the previous August. Attendance
was at only 60-70 percent of the 300,000-400,000 visitors who
usually attend Mardi Gras, but the celebration marked an
important step in the recovery of the city, which counts on
hospitality and tourism as its single largest industry.
73, K.O. Higgs (n0kfq)
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
Winlink: n0kfq@winlink.org
E-Mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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