It's French for "Fat Tuesday", a day of feasting before the Lent, which is the 40-day fasting period prior to Easter. The 40-day measures 6 six-day-weeks plus 4 days before Easter Sunday, so Lent always begins on a Wednesday (called Ash Wednesday). Naturally, people will have a big feast on the Tuesday before they starting fasting on Wednesday. Since Easter moves, so does the day of Mardi Gras each year. The date generally falls in February or early March:
2004 - February 24
2005 - February 8
2006 - February 28
2007 - February 20
2008 - February 5
2009 - February 24
2010 - February 16
The craziest time during Carnival is the Friday before Mardi Gras through the holiday itself.
The three colors of Mardi Gras were decreed by Rex and the colors mean the following: purple = justice, green = faith and gold = power.
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