Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
  • Conservation
  • Privacy
  • Travel Writing Competition 2025
  • Reviews
  • Travel Resources
  • T&C
  • Contact Us
  • Conservation
  • Privacy
  • Travel Writing Competition 2025
  • Reviews
  • Travel Resources
  • T&C
  • Contact Us
Pure Travel
Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
  • World Events and Festivals

How to Celebrate Fat Tuesday in Style!

  • March 4, 2014
  • Jules

Let’s make no mistake about it – today is all about indulging in food, drink and partying, and in the case of Fat Tuesday, aka Mardi Gras – more is most definitely better… for tomorrow it all ceases.

Today is the last day of permissible over-indulgence, according to the Christian and Catholic calendar, as tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, aka the first day of Lent, where devotees abstain from luxuries and even commit to fasting.

Carnival

The most famous examples of excess are undoubtedly the incredible lively and colourful carnivals which are held right across the world – the most famous example of course is the mighty Rio Carnaval in Brazil! Argentina holds the ‘Murga’ and Cajamarca in Peru is the self-styled Carnival capital, where locals dance around trees decked out in toys, food and bottles of alcohol.

Europe can more than hold its own in the fiery festival stakes too, with the annual Venice Carnival currently under way – masks and opulent 18th century outfits at the ready! The lively Croatian Carnival culminates in a lavish masked procession and France gets in on the act too; with Paris, Nice and Dunkirk all hosting exuberant carnivals. In fact the Nice Carnival dates back to 1294.

The Cape Verde Islands in Africa celebrate their Portuguese heritage with local carnivals, which include show-stopping fireworks, elaborate outfits and generally much merrymaking. Sao Vicente Island hosts the annual Mindelo Carnival, which is gradually adopting many of the Brazilian themes.

Mardi Gras

It’s time to get stuck into Mardi Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras parades are commonplace across the world, including the world famous New Orleans Mardi Gras located around the city’s Bourbon Street – the liveliest of them all! Italy holds its annual Martedí Grasso parade and the Swedish celebrate Fastan, where locals eat fastlagsbulle (sweet roll).

Shrove Tuesday

The British mark Fat Tuesday with Pancake Day, aka Shrove Tuesday, where sweet pancakes are consumed. The name ‘shrove’ is said to mean ‘absolution’ and this tradition is also a part of the culture in Canada, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.

Image credit; Carol Highsmith via commons.wikimedia CC

Share
Tweet
Related Topics
  • Carnival
  • Carnival around the world
  • Fat Tuesday
  • Lent
  • Mardi Gras
  • religious festivals
  • Rio Carnival
  • Shrove Tuesday
  • street parades
  • street parties
  • travel and culture
Jules

Previous Article
  • Travel Resources

Mind-Blowing Lisbon Attractions

  • March 3, 2014
  • Jules
View Post
Next Article
  • Travel Resources

A Quick Guide to Exploring Barcelona

  • March 4, 2014
  • Jules
View Post
You May Also Like
Best April Fools pranks
View Post
  • Lifestyle
  • World Events and Festivals

The 20 Greatest April Fools’ Day Pranks of All Time – From Spaghetti Trees to Talking Tulips

  • Robert
  • March 31, 2025
View Post
  • Destination Inspiration
  • World Events and Festivals

10 Insider Tips to Make the Most of Oktoberfest this Year with Stoke Travel’s Oktoberfest Packages

  • Robert
  • April 22, 2024
View Post
  • World Events and Festivals

It’s Official, Spain Has The Best Festivals on Earth!

  • Jules
  • May 21, 2014
View Post
  • World Events and Festivals

Guide to India’s National Holidays in 2014

  • Jules
  • May 19, 2014
View Post
  • World Events and Festivals

Get Involved with World Red Cross Day

  • Jules
  • May 8, 2014
View Post
  • World Events and Festivals

Celebrate Buddha’s Birthday

  • Jules
  • May 6, 2014
View Post
  • World Events and Festivals

Get Involved with World Naked Gardening Day

  • Jules
  • May 3, 2014
View Post
  • World Events and Festivals

World Travel Festivals, Anniversaries and Events in May 2014

  • Jules
  • May 1, 2014
Pure Travel
  • About
  • Destination Inspiration
  • Tips & Advice
  • Guide
  • Travel Writing
  • Cookie Policy (UK)
A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

Pure Travel
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}