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Mardi Gras Beads |
Mardi Gras beads are an inseparable part of
Mardi Gras- a French term that means
"Fat Tuesday." Mardi Gras refers to Carnival celebrations that begin on or after Epiphany and ends on Tuesday, the day just before Ash Wednesday. On this last night before Ash Wednesday, people enjoy rich delicious food before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which starts on Ash Wednesday. The date can fall between February 3 and March 9 depending on the Lunar calendar, used by the Catholic Church to determine the date of Easter. Mardi Gras is always 47 days before Easter Sunday.
Mardi Gras History and Traditions
Catholic European nations have a rich Mardi Gras history in form of carnivals. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the week before Ash Wednesday is known as "shrovetide", that ends on Shrove Tuesday. It has its own traditions and celebrations. Pancakes are the most popular traditional food for the season. Fried breads or pastries made with sugar, fat and eggs are also loved traditionally to be consumed at the time of carnivals in many parts of Latin America and the Caribbean. King Cake with a plastic baby inside is an interesting tradition of Mardi Gras, especially of New orleans Mardi Gras. The person who gets the plastic baby is considered to be lucky for the year to come. Of late, Mardi Gras celebrations have become more popular in Brazil and in cities of the United States than anywhere else.
Mardi Gras Carnivals
In many cities of the US, Mardi Gras now represents a period of activity related to celebratory events and not just a single day. The particular "fat Tuesday' is now referred to as 'Mardi Gras Day.' However, all these cities celebrate Mardi Gras in their own festive style. At some places, this Mardi Gras festive season is considered to be the entire period between Epiphany or Twelfth Night and Ash Wednesday and at some other places, the final three days before Ash Wednesday is referred to as Mardi Gras. At some other places, like in Mobile, Alabama, Mardi Gras celebrations begin right in November and is composed of society balls on Thanksgiving and on New Year's Eve, parades and balls in January and February, celebrating up to midnight before Ash Wednesday. New Orleans Mardi Gras is also famous world over for its fervor and high festive mood. People from many countries visit New Orleans, Louisiana in the United States just to witness New Orleans Mardi Gras. Other cities famous for Mardi Gras celebrations include Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Quebec City, Quebec in Canada, and Mazatlan in Mexico among others
Mardi Gras Celebrations- Throw Beads and Cheap Trinkets
On 'Mardi Gras Day' or 'Fat Tuesday,' many parades are organized by Carnival krewes (Carnival organizations). The Krewe float riders
throw beads and cheap trinkets towards the crowds. The most common and popular throws include strings of plastic colorful beads, doubloons (aluminum or wooden dollar-sized coins generally impressed with a krewe logo), decorated plastic throw cups, Frisbees, mardi gras necklace made of plastic Mardi Gras Beads, figurines and small cheap toys. The tradition of throws dates back to the 1920s. The Mardi Gras parades themselves date all the way back to the 1830s. All float riders wear masks and carnival costumes that range from being funny, mysterious to colorful representation of festive moods. People, instead of watching the riders pass by provoke them to throw beads and other trinkets on them. For attracting the riders towards them, people dress up in different attractive costumes and even perform dances and anything they could just to attract the riders. The colorful people adorn all the bright colors. However, the traditional colors of Mardi Gras include purple, green, and gold that can be seen everywhere on 'Mardi Gras Day.'
Mardi Gras Beads History
Mardi Gras beads have come to be an indispensable representation of Mardi Gras Parades. These beads too have their own history as Mardi Gras throw beads. It is believed that the Carnival organization 'Rex krewe' started the tradition of throws by tossing out trinkets and cheap necklaces of glass beads, which was an instant hit and soon all the parading krewes started throwing beads on crowds. Earlier, glass beads were used as mardi gras throw beads and Czechoslovakia and Japan were the main mardi gras beads suppliers. Modern day Mardi Gras beads are colorful
plastic beads and the chief mardi gras beads manufacturer country is China. Most of the Krewes get their custom mardi gras beads made by order. They have to buy wholesale mardi gras beads and as such, they place their orders for specially designed mardi gras beads by September. This is done so that they may receive their shipment in time for Carnival.
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