Editor’s note: Palmerton resident and contributing writer Lynn Shupp brings us a firsthand look from Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama, which competes with New Orleans

By LYNN Shupp

tneditor@tnonline.com

What is Mardi Gras season all about and what’s it like to experience it?

Today is Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent starts.

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and that date floats from year to year.

Traditionally, once Lent begins, some Christians give up something they enjoy like meat, sweets, snacks or an activity as a symbolic sacrifice to mirror Jesus’ 40 days of fasting.

Mardi Gras season, also known as Carnivale, begins on Jan. 6. You will hear it is called Twelfth Night and is the end of the Christmas season.

Mardi Gras started in France in 1294 and spread throughout Europe. In England it is known as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Day.

For a lot of us in this area, because of the Germans who settled here, we know it as Fastnacht Day.

It is believed that in 1699 the French Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville brought it to America. Most people think of New Orleans when you hear Mardi Gras, but Mobile, Alabama, celebrates it, too. There is a huge rivalry between the cites over who had it first — and it’s still debated today

The celebration

Should you decide to enjoy Carnivale season, both cities do it well. The word Carnivale comes from a Latin term “carne vale,” which means “farewell to meat.” Thanks to Pope Gregory XIII, Mardi Gras became a holiday and was added to the Gregorian calendar.

In both cities many parades are held in different neighborhoods or outlying areas throughout Mardi Gras season. Elaborate floats are done by organized groups called Krewes. Some of these Krewes spend up to $200,000 on their floats and everyone on the float must wear costumes and masks. The masks are worn to allow people to “escape society and class constraints.”

While standing on the street in both cities you will be able to enjoy a lot of amazing bands ranging from High School to Community bands which are located in between the floats and their Krewes. When a float starts coming your way make sure to make some noise and yell for their throws. Throws will be different for every Krewe and can range from beads to stuffed animals to edible items. Plastic coins thrown are known as doubloons.

We’ve experienced Mardi Gras season several times in New Orleans, so this year we wanted to try out Mobile, Alabama. Floats are still amazing, the energy is great, more family friendly, not as crowded, throws are enticing, bands are phenomenal, and we will go back.

MoonPies are a throw specifically in Mobile. Here’s a fun fact, Mobile consumes over 4 million MoonPies annually.

Mardi Gras started in Mobile in 1703 and has its fair share of elaborate floats and colorful costumes. They do not have as many parades as New Orleans, but that’s OK because they do theirs well.

The next time we want to go for the Joe Cain Procession which falls on the Sunday right before Fat Tuesday. That Sunday is known as Joe Cain Day in Mobile. That parade starts at his grave in the Church Street Graveyard and is a walking parade with no floats, also known as the People’s parade. This parade commemorates his role in reviving Mardi Gras in Mobile back in 1866.

You are sure to hear “Laissez les bon temps rouler” throughout your time there and it means “Let the good times roll” in Cajun French. Each Krewe has a royalty system that includes the Krewe leader, followed by the King and Queen, and then the maids and dukes.

The parades are what the public gets to experience, but the Krewe will have their own ball. The King and Queen will be revealed that night and their outfits for the ball are beyond stunning. I highly recommend going to The Carnivale Museum in Mobile to see some of the outfits and to learn about the history.

Mardi Gras season has a much deeper meaning than what most people are aware of and as soon as this year’s season ends, they will start working and planning for the 2026 season.

Mobile vs. New Orleans

If you are looking for a bigger party experience with a lot more people, then NOLA is for you. Uptown parades in New Orleans tend to be not as crazy as those in the Quarter. Don’t be surprised to see celebrities there. The last time we were in NOLA for it we saw Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister throwing beads from a balcony on Bourbon and then he was on one of the floats.

We have never been there for the main weekend, but I have seen photos and videos, and it’s packed.

This year due to the rain we only got to experience one parade in Mobile, but it was a great experience.

Hotel rooms were expensive, so we decided to stay outside of the city in Gulfport, Mississippi. It’s an hour and a half drive to get into either New Orleans or Mobile.

King Cake is only to be enjoyed during Carnivale season and is named for the three kings who visited the baby Jesus. Be careful when eating a piece of King Cake because there is a little plastic baby baked into the cake. It’s a sweet ring-shaped cake that traditionally tastes like vanilla and cinnamon and has vanilla icing with purple, gold, and green sugar on the top.

Those are the colors of Mardi Gras and have different meanings. The purple represents justice, gold symbolizes power, and green represents faith. The traditional is yummy, but there are many options to enjoy like jelly or cream cheese filled or others.

If you are the one who finds the baby, it is said you will have good fortune and you need to host the next King Cake gathering.

This trip we had the traditional and for the first time tried blueberry and cream cheese filled. Both are a winner with me. My friend Kim Smith found the baby in the filled cake, and I found it in the traditional. Want to try King Cake? Check some of the big chain bakeries. They usually will have it and some of our local restaurants in the area posted a Mardi Gras menu to try some of those southern dishes like po-boys, red beans and rice, gumbo, or jambalaya to name a few.