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"Mardi Gras" is a French term meaning "Fat Tuesday." The term arose from the custom of parading a fat ox through the streets on Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. Revelers eat, drink, carouse and party during Mardi Gras, prior to abstinence observed during the Lenten season. Although Mardi Gras is a Christian tradition with French ties, its origins lie in the ancient Roman custom of merrymaking before a period of fasting. Mardi Gras is always scheduled on "Fat Tuesday", 47 days before Easter (the 40 days and 7 Sundays of Lent).

To avoid the huge crowds in New Orleans, and still hear (or yell yourself) "throw me something mister" try Baton Rouge, where the parade viewing crowd chants for folks on the parade floats to throw them some of the cheap trinkets of beads and doubloons, (some of the ladies are known to expose their breasts in exchange for beads).