Mardi Gras and other Carnival festivals

In this lesson you are going to learn about Mardi Gras, a carnival festival celebrated in New Orleans and other major cities. It is a tradition similar to our own custom of Αποκριεσ
Apokries, Thessaloniki

What is common in all Carnivals?

Mardi Gras is a Carnival festival that lasts for several days. Mardi Gras, also known as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day, is the day before the start of Lent. Lent is a period of 40 days before Easter when many Christians fast. This means that they stop eating rich foods like meat, butter and eggs. Since the date of Easter changes every year, depending on the first full moon of spring, Mardi Gras can be on any Tuesday between February 3rd and March 9th.

New Orleans, Louisiana USA

Mardi Gras is what the French call Fat Tuesday. (Gras means fat and Mardi means Tuesday.) In New Orleans, a city in Louisiana USA, Mardi Gras is a holiday. The official colours of Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. Purple stands for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

Marching bands play jazz music in the streets and people celebrate by having parties, attending parades and wearing costumes and masks.

king cake

They eat King Cake which is decorated with purple, green, and gold sugar. It also has a toy baby hidden inside it. The person who gets the baby is the King or Queen and they have to buy the next King Cake or give the next Mardi Gras party.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio de Janeiro has the longest Carnival celebration in the world. People wear colorful, elaborate costumes, and they dance to samba music which is a symbol of Brazil.

Venice, Italy

Carnival festivals are also celebrated in Venice. Because Lent is a somber time, Mardi Gras is a last chance for people to have fun and feast.

Mardi Gras Worksheets

Make your own mardi gras carnival mask

How to Do the Basic Samba steps

Let's Dance...

Word Search Key

Credits

Mardi Gras text adapted from http://www.elcivics.com/mardi-gras-1.html and Art-With-Jenny-K

Word Search made in The Teacher's Corner

Mask templates and instructions from firstpalette.com

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