Beads of green, gold and purple soared through the crowded streets of New Orleans, Louisiana, during Mardi Gras on Feb. 17. Although the holiday is notorious for its elaborate festivals, parades and rambunctious marching bands, the tradition of Mardi Gras dates back thousands of years to European pagan traditions. When Christianity spread to Rome, the holiday became a prelude to Lent, the 40 days of fasting between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. This spread to France, where they came up with the holiday’s official name, with “mardi” meaning “Tuesday” and “gras” meaning “fat”. This “fat Tuesday” phrase came from participants eating rich foods Tuesday before the fast starts on Ash Wednesday.
In America, Mardi Gras was first celebrated on March 3, 1699 by explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Sieur de Bienville near present-day New Orleans (Mardi Gras 2026). Over the centuries, especially in New Orleans, it has expanded into a vibrant celebration featuring colorful clothing, masks and rolling floats.
“My family celebrates by going back to Louisiana, visiting family and friends, and going to parades all weekend long,” Olivia Trahan, 11, said. “The parades are made up of huge floats with a bunch of people. They throw beads, stuffed animals and other stuff at the crowd for people to catch.”
Emerson’s French classes are currently doing projects that reflect cultural aspects of the holiday. This has helped students learn more about its traditions, such as Krewes, which are private social organizations that are the backbone of the parade.
“We’re doing a float-making project where we use the shoe boxes to create our own float. [Students] are the Krewe … a group of people helping out to make a float for the parade,” Yena Nam, 12, said. “They support a charitable cause … [and] pay for float decoration and the labor force behind it.”
The signature beads that fill the Louisiana streets have meanings that tie in with the parade floats as well.
“One of the main events for the parade, and for the float specifically, is throwing beads or any other objects that represent your float,” Nam said.
Starting this week, French 3’s float projects will be featured in the library. Make sure to stop by to support the French students and learn a bit about Mardi Gras!
