Mardi Gras In New Orleans
New Orleans is a city full of mystery and cultural attractions that are meant to amaze and delight everyone of all ages. A New Orleans timeshare would come in handy during Mardi Gras when thousands of people converge on the city to enjoy the celebration. Mardi Gras itself is steeped in its own traditions and if you want to take advantage of everything Mardi Gras has to offer a New Orleans timeshare will be the best way to do it.
Mardi Gras has always been celebrated in February and it started out as the Roman celebration of �Lupercalia�. The celebration back in ancient Roman times was very similar to the circus like festival that is celebrated today. Even when the Romans embraced Christianity the carnival was incorporated as part of the many festivals celebrated. It became the last festival before Lent where people enjoyed a week of merriment and abandoned before fasting. Mardi Gras has been celebrated in Paris since the Middle Ages and there is actually a site outside of Paris where the celebration is held every year.
The festival of Mardi Gras came to New Orleans in 1803 and up until 1823 the pre-Lenten masked balls were banned while the city was under Spanish rule. It 1827 street masking during the celebration was legalized once again. In 1857 the entire Mardi Gras celebration was saved by six men who formed the Comus organization. The celebration had been getting violent and many people were calling for the end of the celebration. But the men of the Comus organization demonstrated that the celebration was a safe and fun event. They helped organize the unified float theme for the parades as well as the after parade ball.
The celebration of Mardi Gras was interrupted first by the Civil War and then between 1918 and 1919 during the American involvement in World War I. Prohibition and the Great Depression saw Mardi Gras struggle, but the celebration has endured, especially during the 1940s. The celebration paused once again during World War II but in 1949 jazz musician Louis Armstrong helped bring the celebration back to the forefront of popularity. He was the King of the Zulu Parade that year.
As Mardi Gras approached and went through the years, committees came and went in addition to mule drawn floats being replaced by tractors. The debut of Bacchus, one of the favored characters of Mardi Gras, debuted in 1969 with huge floats and a Hollywood celebrity riding as the king of the parade. The ball was replaced with a ticketed supper and the celebration grew. Today the festival is visited by close to a million people starting with the first parade on Fat Tuesday. Doubloons were replaced by plastic beads and the ball eventually ended as it lost popularity.
If you want to enjoy everything Mardi Gras has to offer � from the parades to the after parade parties and celebrations � then consider a New Orleans timeshare to stay at. You will be able to save money on hotels and save it for purchasing more enjoyable things like King Cakes.
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