Current:Home > Contact-usWhere did Mardi Gras start in the US? You may be thinking it's New Orleans but it's not.-InfoLens
Where did Mardi Gras start in the US? You may be thinking it's New Orleans but it's not.
View Date:2024-12-23 14:34:10
In the United States, Mardi Gras is an event that is very much celebrated in some southern cities. French for Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras is always on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. This year it will be held on Tuesday Feb. 13. Mardi Gras is only one day but the Mardi Gras season, also known as the carnival season, can last for weeks culminating on Fat Tuesday.
Many people assume that New Orleans is the birthplace of Mardi Gras. However, many historians and researchers give the honor of originating Mardi Gras in the U.S. to another southern city: Mobile, Alabama. Mobile is located 144 miles away from New Orleans.
Some history books claim that the first Mardi Gras in America happened in 1699 when French explorers Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, also known as Sieur de Bienville, landed in Louisiana near the Mississippi River.
However, technically that fact may not be true according to the records of the two cities and when they were founded. Mobile was founded in 1702 while New Orleans was founded much later.
“Apparently, as early 1703, the French held a type of Mardi Gras celebration in Mobile,” Donnelly Lancaster Walton told History.com. “New Orleans wasn’t founded until 1718. Therefore, strictly speaking, Mobile had the earliest celebration of the two cities.”
When is Mardi Gras this year?:Prep the king cake, here are the details for Fat Tuesday 2024
History of Mardi Gras in Mobile
In 1703, Mobile, Alabama was the first city recorded to have the oldest organized Mardi Gras in the U.S., according to Curious Cuisiniere.
"The first documented celebration of modern-day carnival, what people think of as carnival in the United States is historically without a doubt began in Mobile. There are two ingredients to American carnival. They are a parade and a ball that are tied together by theme hosted by a given group. The groups are called in Mobile Mystic Societies. In New Orleans, they're called Krewes," Cart Blackwell, curator of the Mobile Carnival Museum, told USA TODAY. "On New Year's Eve going into 1830, a group of men in Mobile staged an impromptu parade. The very next year, they did a parade with floats."
Blackwell explains that the carnival gained popularity as it traveled to other neighboring cities in Alabama. After Mobile, the celebration appeared in Selma and then Montgomery. In 1857, a parade with a ball afterwards went to New Orleans.
Mardi Gras in Mobile: Mystic Societies play a big role
Mystic Societies are individually run similar to social clubs or groups. The societies have its own officers, boards of directors, and rules and regulations.
"[The Mystic Societies] run like mini businesses. They have monthly meetings in an adjacent building to their float barns, that's referred to as the den." Judi Gulledge, executive director of the Mobile Carnival Museum told USA TODAY. "They have property and buildings, and they have to pay taxes on all of those. They run independently with whatever it is that the organization has."
When forming a Mystic Society, the group must clarify if they want to be a parading or non-parading organization. Parading groups will participate in the parade for the city of Mobile. Non-parading groups will just have a ball, a tableau or an opening skit.
Gulledge said that Mystic Societies have been in Mobile for over 150 years. Currently, there are 80 Mystic Societies in Mobile. The oldest societies are still operating today.
"The oldest non-parading organization is the Strikers Independent Society and the oldest parading organization is the Order of Myths, which is sometimes referred to as OOM, or as the locals call it Double OM. They have been parading since 1868," Gulledge said.
Many of the societies hold balls and select a king, queen, and an entire royal court to present.
A 2008 documentary called Order of The Myths explores the unique complexities of Mystic Societies in Mobile.
Mardi Gras in Mobile keeps tradition alive on smaller scale
Undoubtedly, New Orleans brings the crowd when it comes to celebrating Mardi Gras. Although Mobile's Mardi Gras may not get as much attention as New Orleans, their carnival is very sentimental to everyone that participates.
"There's a lot there's a big difference between the two and that Mobile’s { Mardi Gras] is more rooted in family, it's owned by Mobilians, and to parade you have to be a member of an organization.," Blackwell said. "That brings about an accountability of behavior. There's a stronger police presence. It's a smaller city so it doesn't get the crowds that New Orleans does and it's very much community owned and policed."
Mobile's Mardi Gras may be small compared to New Orleans, but it does bring in a lot of revenue for the city.
"The last major study conducted by the University of South Alabama's business school in 2012 and it was determined, in less than a month, carnival generated over $400 million from Mobile County," Blackwell said. "That has been a sixth of the state of Alabama's annual tourism income at the height of the recent great recession."
Mobile and New Orleans: A tale of two carnival celebrating cities
New Orleans and Mobile have a playful banter about who really should be credited with Mardi Gras. It's often a topic of conversation between the residents of both cities and Mobile and New Orleans mayors have even sparred about it on social media. Additionally, each year, Mobile's mayor issues a proclamation giving New Orleans "permission" to celebrate Mardi Gras.
But no matter where revelers decide to party, New Orleans and Mobile alike both want their celebrations to be fun and welcoming.
"Both Mobile and New Orleans are old port towns, and they have always welcomed people. They have experienced the waves of migration to our country, and they have benefited from it," Blackwell said to the Montgomery Advertiser, a part of the USA TODAY Network, back in 2022. "While we might not be receiving immigrants within our ports these days, that spirit of welcomeness to ideas and culture is permeated in the very being and fabrics of our cities."
Contributing: Todd A. Price
veryGood! (7297)
Related
- Mississippi expects only a small growth in state budget
- ACC commissioner promises to fight ‘for as long as it takes’ amid legal battles with Clemson, FSU
- Airlines, government and businesses rush to get back on track after global tech disruption
- Kate Middleton Shares Royally Sweet Photo of Prince George in Honor of His 11th Birthday
- The 10 Best Cashmere Sweaters and Tops That Feel Luxuriously Soft and Are *Most Importantly* Affordable
- Ex-Philadelphia police officer sentenced to at least 8 years in shooting death of 12-year-old boy
- Emily in Paris Season 4 Trailer Teases Emily Moving On From The Gabriel-Alfie Love Triangle
- More money could result in fewer trips to ER, study suggests
- Businesses at struggling corner where George Floyd was killed sue Minneapolis
- Andre Seldon Jr., Utah State football player and former Belleville High School star, dies in apparent drowning
Ranking
- What is ‘Doge’? Explaining the meme and cryptocurrency after Elon Musk's appointment to D.O.G.E.
- Vice President Kamala Harris leads list of contenders for spots on the Democratic ticket
- Southern California wildfire destroys and damages homes during scorching heat wave
- Guns n' Roses' Slash Shares His 25-Year-Old Stepdaughter Has Died
- AP Top 25: Oregon remains No. 1 as Big Ten grabs 4 of top 5 spots; Georgia, Miami out of top 10
- Halloween in July is happening. But Spirit Halloween holds out for August. Here's when stores open
- Secret Service director says Trump assassination attempt was biggest agency ‘failure’ in decades
- No one hurt when CSX locomotive derails and strikes residential garage in Niagara Falls
Recommendation
-
Harriet Tubman posthumously named a general in Veterans Day ceremony
-
The 10 biggest Paris Olympics questions answered, from Opening Ceremony to stars to watch
-
Richard Simmons' staff shares social media post he wrote before his death
-
Harris gets chance to press reset on 2024 race against Trump
-
Will the NBA Cup become a treasured tradition? League hopes so, but it’s too soon to tell
-
Video tutorial: How to react to iMessages using emojis
-
More money could result in fewer trips to ER, study suggests
-
Andrew Garfield's Girlfriend Kate Tomas Calls Out Misogynistic Reactions to Their Romance