Mardi Gras New Orleans

The holiday of Mardi Gras is celebrated in all of Louisiana, including the city of New Orleans.

Celebrations are concentrated for about two weeks before and through Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday (the start of lent in the Western Christian tradition).

Usually there is one major parade each day (weather permitting); 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 (some of them masquerade balls).

The parades in New Orleans are organized by social clubs known as krewes; most follow the same parade schedule and route each year.

The earliest-established krewes were the Mistick Krewe of Comus, the earliest, Rex, the Knights of Momus and the Krewe of Proteus.

Traditional colors

The colors traditionally associated with Mardi Gras in New Orleans are green, gold, and purple.

The colors were first specified in proclamations by the Rex organization during the lead-up to their inaugural parade in 1872, suggesting that balconies be draped in banners of these colors.

It is unknown why these specific colors were chosen;

some accounts suggest that they were initially selected solely on their aesthetic appeal, as opposed to any true symbolism.



Errol Laborde, author of Marched the Day God: A History of the Rex Organization, presented a theory that the colors were based on heraldry:

all three colors correspond to a heraldic tincture, and Rex's goal may have been to create a tricolor to represent their "kingdom".

Purple was widely associated with royalty, while white was already heavily used on other national flags, and was thus avoided.

Furthermore, he noted that a flag in green, gold and purple in that order complies with the rule of tincture, which states that metals (gold or silver) can only be placed on or next to other colors, and that colors cannot be placed on or next to other colors.

Following a color-themed Rex parade in 1892 that featured purple, green, and gold-colored floats themed around the concepts, the Rex organization retroactively declared that the three colors in that order symbolized justice, power, and faith.

The traditional colors are commonly addressed as purple, green, and gold, in that order—even though this order violates the rule of tincture.

LaToya Cantrell
The Mayor of New Orleans

LaToya Cantrell (born April 3, 1972) is an American politician serving as the Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, a post she has held since May 7, 2018.

Cantrell, a Democrat, is the first woman to hold the post. Before becoming mayor, Cantrell represented District B on the New Orleans City Council from 2012–2018.