Occurring on any Tuesday from February 3 through March 9, Mardi Gras is tied to Easter, which falls on the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring Equinox. Because the day before Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of Lent, was a day of feasting, it came to be known as Fat Tuesday or, as the French would say, Mardi Gras.

New Orleans Baby Doll Ladies in the 2012 Zulu parade on Mardi Gras Day

A day of fantasy, frivolity and indulgence preceding the Lenten season of atonement and abstinence.

Photo © Graham Button

Mardi Gras 2025 is Tuesday, March 4

Although Church fathers established Easter as a movable holiday in 325, it wasn’t until 1582, under Pope Gregory XIII, that Mardi Gras became a holiday on the Christian calendar on the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.

The underlying reasoning was to have all the foolishness and indulgence be finished when it came time to start atoning and fasting. As the climax of Carnival and a traditional day of feasting — as symbolized by the ritual slaughter of a fatted bull or ox (boeuf gras) — the celebration came to be known as Fat Tuesday, or as French would say, Mardi Gras.

Also sometimes referred to as Carnival or Carnival Day, Mardi Gras is always scheduled 47 days preceding Easter (the 40 days of Lent plus seven Sundays).

Future Mardi Gras Dates

2026 – February 17
2027 – February 9
2028 – February 29
2029 – February 13
2030 – March 5
2031 - February 25
2032 - February 10