How Long Does Mardi Gras Last in 2022?

Event Schedule: Final Weekend through Fat Tuesday

Weekend before Mardi Gras

The population of New Orleans more than doubles with visitors starting the weekend before Mardi Gras! Thursday evening kicks off with a bang with an all-ladies parade featuring the sassy Krewe of Muses. This Krewe is known for its throws of decorated shoes and other lady-themed trinkets, as well as float and costume themes poking fun at politicians, celebrities and musicians. Friday parades feature the large Krewe of Hermes and satirical Krewe D'État parades. There are also several smaller neighborhood parades like the Krewe of Barkus (one of our favorite parades where dogs and pets are dressed up in costume and walked down the streets to silly music) and the Krewe of OAK. The day ends with one of the fastest growing krewes, the Krewe of Morpheus. Several daytime parades roll on Saturday, including Krewe of Tucks.

The first of the "super krewes", Endymion, parades on Saturday night, with the celebrity-led Bacchus parade on Sunday night. Super Krewe parades always draw huge crowds and are often the biggest, most elaborate parades at Mardi Gras. Sunday also features Okeanos and Thoth, among several others.

Lundi Gras

The Monday before Mardi Gras is known as Lundi Gras, or "Fat Monday". The monarchs of both the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club and Krewe of Rex, arrive by boat on the Mississippi River front at the foot of Canal Street. Here, an all-day party is staged with traditional New Orleans music, dancing and eats. The monarchs of each club then parade the following day. Uptown parades, which are less frequented by tourists, start with one of New Orleans' most prestigious organizations, the Krewe of Proteus. Dating back to 1882, Proteus is the second oldest krewe still parading in the city today. The uptown Proteus parade is then followed by the newer organization, music-themed super-Krewe Orpheus.

Mardi Gras Day

Celebrations begin quite early on Mardi Gras Day and continue all day and through the night. Depending on the Lenten season and ultimately the date of Easter, Mardi Gras can fall on any Tuesday between February 3 and March 9. Uptown, the Zulu parade rolls first, with the Rex parade following immediately after. Both end on Canal Street which is at the border of the French Quarter. A number of smaller parades with "truck floats" follow the Rex parade down the tree-lined streets.

Numerous smaller parades and walking clubs also parade around New Orleans, featuring costumed members, floats, bands and dance routines. The Jefferson City Buzzards, the Lyons Club, the Irish Channel Corner Club, Pete Fountain's Half Fast Walking Club and the KOE all start earlier in the day Uptown and make their way toward the French Quarter. At the other end of the old city, the Society of Saint Anne travels from the Bywater through Marigny and the French Quarter, to finally meet Rex at Canal Street. The always-entertaining Pair-O-Dice Tumblers journey from bar to bar in Marigny and the French Quarter from noon to dusk. Various groups of Mardi Gras Indians, divided into uptown and downtown tribes, parade in their traditional costume and finery.

End of each Mardi Gras

The formal end of Mardi Gras arrives with "the Meeting of the Courts", a term describing the ceremony at which Rex and His Royal Consort, the King and Queen of Carnival, meet with Comus and his Queen at the ball of the Mistick Krewe of Comus, New Orleans' oldest active Carnival organization. The Meeting of the Courts happens at the conclusion of the two groups' masked balls, which in modern times have both been held at the New Orleans Municipal Auditorium. Since 2006, following Hurricane Katrina, the Ball has been held in the Marriott Hotel.

Promptly at the stroke of 12am midnight at the end of Fat Tuesday, a horse- mounted squad of finely dressed New Orleans police officers make a show of clearing upper Bourbon Street, where the bulk of out-of-town party people congregate. The mounted police officers announce through the streets that Mardi Gras is officially over, and that the party must end as it is now the start of Lent. The Lenten season commences with Ash Wednesday.

The Day After...

Ash Wednesday, the day after Fat Tuesday, is sometimes jokingly referred to as "Trash Wednesday" due to the huge amounts of trash, etc. left in the streets by the previous day's celebrations. The tons upon tons of refuse picked up by the city sanitation department always proves to be a local news item. It also reflects the positive economic impact brought by the droves of tourists who visit New Orleans at each year's Mardi Gras celebration.

Following a year of canceled festivities due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Mardi Gras celebrations are returning in full force to Louisiana. Newsweek breaks down everything you need to know about this year's event.

What is Mardi Gras?

Mardi Gras is an originally Christian festivity and is French for 'Fat Tuesday' as the celebration originally allowed people to gorge on rich and fatty food before the start of Lent, a 40 day fasting period.

Modern day Mardi Gras celebrations have since deviated from their originally religious roots and have become synonymous with carnival, as large parades with elaborately decorated and colorful floats, marching band, street dances, performances, feathered outfits and colored beads have become the image of the annual party in New Orleans.

New Orleans has become the home of the annual festivities, having been the epicenter of the celebrations since 1837. However, the very first Mardi Gras celebration to be held on American soil took place in Mobile, Alabama in 1703.

Mardi Gras COVID Restrictions

Mardi Gras was canceled in 2021 in order to curb the spread of coronavirus after the 2020 edition was found to be one of the country's first super-spreader events at the start of the pandemic. Despite its return, this year's Mardi Gras will still be marked by the COVID-19 pandemic as slight changes to the celebration have had to be put in place.

Unlike previous editions of the celebration, parade routes will be shorter and most will be traveling the same designated route, instead of meandering through different neighborhoods as is traditionally the case.

Musical acts have been curtailed as some have chosen not to perform this year, while the number of tourists flocking to Louisiana to join in with the festivities has also, unsurprisingly, seen itself reduced.

According to the city's tourism bureau, hotel capacity is roughly 80 percent of what it was during the last celebrations in 2020, though the full figures will not be known until later in the week.

New Orleans has also reinstated an indoor mask mandate to help curtail a surge in possible infections. The mandate will come into effect on Tuesday March 1 and will apply to everyone taking part in festivities across the city.

Mardi Gras 2022 Schedule and Parade Details

Festivities for Mardi Gras officially kicked off on January 6, and parades have been marching through New Orleans sporadically for the past number of weeks.

The festive spirit went up a notch from February 23, when the city started holding daily parades, which are set to continue until March 1. The parades and celebrations continue into March, with 10 different parades scheduled to dance through New Orleans on Tuesday, March 1.

The full schedule of parades across New Orleans from January until the event's conclusion can be found here.

As is to be expected, food is a central part of the celebrations. Some of the popular and staple foods eaten during Mardi Gras include King Cake, a rich cake that often comes with a hidden baby toy in it which is meant to represent baby Jesus.

Pastries such as beignets, Polish Paczkis, Pennsylvania Dutch Fastnachts and pancakes are also a common feature during the festivities.

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