Discover Mardi Gras 2027

Speak Carnival

The words you'll hear on the route, explained - so you sound less like a tourist by Fat Tuesday.

Krewe: A private club that stages a parade and/or ball. Krewes are member-funded; the city only provides permits and safety. The deliberately archaic spelling was coined by Comus in 1857.
Neutral ground: The New Orleans word for a street median. On St. Charles it is prime family parade-watching territory - locals stake it out hours ahead.
Throws: Beads, doubloons, cups, and trinkets tossed from floats to the crowd. They are gifts, never sold - which is why locals call it the Greatest Free Show on Earth.
Doubloon: An aluminum coin stamped with a krewe's emblem and that year's parade theme. Rex introduced the modern doubloon in 1960.
Zulu coconut: A hand-painted coconut from the Zulu club - the single most coveted throw of Carnival. Handed down from the float, not thrown.
Lundi Gras: "Fat Monday," the day before Fat Tuesday (Mon Feb 8 in 2027). Proteus and Orpheus roll this night, and Rex arrives by river.
Fat Tuesday: Mardi Gras Day itself - the last day before Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. Tue Feb 9 in 2027.
Twelfth Night: January 6, the start of Carnival season (Joan of Arc parade, Phunny Phorty Phellows streetcar). King cake is eaten only between now and Fat Tuesday.
Super krewe: A very large modern krewe (Endymion, Bacchus, Orpheus) known for enormous floats, hundreds of riders, and celebrity monarchs.
Old-line krewe: A historic 19th- or early-20th-century krewe such as Comus (1857), Rex (1872), or Proteus (1882).
Flambeaux: Torch-carriers who light the night parades - a tradition from the era before street lighting, now a spectacle in its own right.
King cake: An oval cake iced in purple, green, and gold sugar with a tiny plastic baby (the infant Jesus) hidden inside. Whoever gets the baby buys or hosts the next cake. Eaten only during Carnival season, Jan 6 to Fat Tuesday.
Masking: Louisiana generally bans wearing masks in public, but allows it during authorized Mardi Gras festivities. Float riders are in fact required by law to wear a mask while riding.
Lagniappe: A New Orleans word for "a little something extra," given for free.
Laissez les bons temps rouler: French for "let the good times roll" - the unofficial motto of Carnival.