Mardi Gras

Fat Tuesday, also known as Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday, or Pancake Tuesday, is the day before Ash Wednesday, which begins the Christian season of Lent. Because the eating of meat and meat products was forbidden by the Catholic Church during Lent and people were expected to fast during the Lenten season, it became common to make Fat Tuesday a day of feasting and celebration, where people would use up the lard, eggs, and milk they were forbidden during Lent.

Mardi Gras is still an important holiday in New Orleans, where every year, residents and guests stage elaborate parades and balls. Revelers unfortunately tend to wave their gentialia and dugs at every passer by, resulting in a disgraceful let-down to the public view of New Orleans, 'The Queen of the South'.