When is Mardi Gras 2027
Mardi Gras 2027 falls on Tuesday, 9 February. The date is fixed relative to Easter rather than to a set day of the calendar: it’s always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which itself is 46 days before Easter Sunday. Because Easter moves within a five-week window each year, Mardi Gras can land anywhere between early February and early March.
The “Carnival season” leading up to Mardi Gras traditionally begins on Twelfth Night (January 6) and builds for weeks, with parades, balls, and king cake parties increasing in frequency as Fat Tuesday approaches.
History
Mardi Gras — French for “Fat Tuesday” — arrived in North America with French colonists in the late 17th century and became firmly established in New Orleans through the 18th and 19th centuries. The tradition is a pre-Lenten celebration: Fat Tuesday is the last day to indulge in rich food, sugar, and festivity before the 40-day fasting period of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. New Orleans formalized the parade tradition through krewes — private social clubs that organize and fund the floats, costumes, and parades each year — starting with the Mistick Krewe of Comus in 1857.
How it’s celebrated
New Orleans’ Mardi Gras is built around parades staged by krewes across the weeks before Fat Tuesday, each with its own theme, floats, and marching bands. Riders on floats throw beads, doubloons, and other trinkets to crowds — catching a coveted throw is part of the ritual. The colors purple, green, and gold, chosen by the Krewe of Rex in 1872, represent justice, faith, and power respectively and now define Mardi Gras visually.
Beyond New Orleans, Mardi Gras is observed with parades and celebrations in Mobile, Alabama (which claims the oldest Mardi Gras tradition in the US, predating New Orleans’), and in smaller Gulf Coast communities with French and Catholic heritage.
Food and customs
King cake — a ring-shaped, cinnamon-swirled cake decorated in purple, green, and gold — is the signature food of the season, traditionally containing a small plastic baby hidden inside; whoever finds it in their slice is said to host the next king cake party or bring the cake next year. Bakeries across New Orleans sell king cakes exclusively during Carnival season, from Twelfth Night through Fat Tuesday.
Best places to experience Mardi Gras
- New Orleans French Quarter — the historic center of celebration, extremely crowded on Fat Tuesday itself
- St. Charles Avenue — a major parade route with a more family-oriented atmosphere than the French Quarter
- Mobile, Alabama — a quieter, historically significant alternative to New Orleans
Frequently asked questions
Is Mardi Gras a public holiday? It’s a state holiday in Louisiana and observed locally in parts of Alabama and Mississippi, but it’s not a federal US holiday.
Why does the date change every year? Because it’s tied to Ash Wednesday, which is calculated backward from Easter, and Easter’s date depends on the ecclesiastical lunar calendar.
Is Mardi Gras only celebrated in New Orleans? No — it’s observed in various forms across the US Gulf Coast and in Catholic communities worldwide, though New Orleans’ celebration is by far the most internationally recognized.