Mardi Gras

Biography & Overview

Mardi Gras (UK: ; US: ), also known as Shrove Tuesday, is the final day of Carnival (also known as Shrovetide or Fastelavn); it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras ([maʁdi ɡʁa]) is French for "Fat Tuesday", referring to it being the last day of consuming rich, fatty foods, most notably red meat, in preparation for the Christian fasting season of Lent, during which such foods are avoided.
Related popular practices are associated with Carnival celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. In countries such as the United Kingdom, Mardi Gras is more usually known as Pancake Day or (traditionally) Shrove Tuesday, derived from the word shrive, meaning "to administer the sacrament of confession to; to absolve".