Because this is largely a social festival outside the regulation of organizations like the Catholic Church, it has changed as it spread. Despite an unorganized diaspora, the core idea remains the same.
In Ireland and England people celebrate Shrove Tuesday, an event very similar to the Latin-based Mardi Gras, yet uniquely their own. The title Shrove is a derivate of the English verb ‘to shrive’ or repent for one’s sins. Shove Tuesday is sometimes known as Pancake Day, as pancakes are the traditional food for this British-style carnival.
The Polish celebrate Fat Thursday (Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday in French), a day of intense feasting, which falls on the last Thursday before Ash Wednesday. The Greeks share a similar tradition, Tsiknopempti (Barbecue Thursday).
The United States has a very famous Mardi Gras party in New Orleans every year. The first Mardi Gras in the New World was celebrated in 1699 by Sieur d’Iberville, a French explorer. This would make it one of the oldest festivals in the United States. New Orleans attracts mountains of visitors from around the world at Mardi Gras. The holiday has spread like wildfire in America. Most major cities have some kind of celebration that day, especially those along the Mississippi river.
But perhaps the most famous (or infamous) celebration of Mardi Gras is the Brazilian Carnaval. This country, heavily influenced by European and African culture, is dominated by massive parades and spectacles. Legions of dancers and masked revelers take to the streets of Brazil’s largest cities, bidding farewell to the flesh (The Latin phrase Carne Vale means just that) with this last frenzy of libation.
