For the many Christians who will observe Ash Wednesday this week, Tuesday is the last day to gorge on all of the soon-to-be forbidden food of the Lenten season. It’s called Fat Tuesday.
Most people know it as Mardi Gras: a time to drink and throw beads.
And nobody celebrates the holiday like the city of New Orleans, the town whose jazz music, Cajun food and carnivalesque atmosphere is world-renowned.
Yes, the Big Easy has been in full swing party mode as of Friday.
According to the Huffington Post, New Orleans is experiencing a record number of tourists this weekend for the Carnival, attributing it to “the latest Fat Tuesday in 150 years, coinciding with Spring Break.”
Mardi Gras is frequently criticized for being, well, too much fun. It is called an immoral and evil practice — a perfect atmosphere for crime and sin.
But New Orleans is a city that already struggles from crime and poverty. According to the most recent “Uniform Crime Report” by the FBI, New Orleans continues to have the highest murder rate in the country.
If you ask me, a party is just what the doctor ordered. The only significant crime it appears to affect is littering and indecent exposure; meanwhile, the upshot is some much needed economic stimulation.
According to the Associated Press, tourism is the staple industry of New Orleans, and “A Tulane University study found that Mardi Gras in 2009 was worth more than $322 million for the city's economy.”
For a city over-burdened with disaster in recent years, getting the economy rolling again is key. Between Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the BP oil spill this past year, it’s a wonder that the historic city can muster enough strength to blow its horns on Mardi Gras.
But of course, it did. And it is a beautiful thing.
Mardi Gras is not the crude chaos that it is often depicted to be; it is a wonderful mixing of cultures and celebration-rich traditions.
French and Cajun communities celebrate by eating, dancing, singing and pretty much every other form of merrymaking imaginable.
There will be numerous parades and festivities. “The city will be thrown open to the wildly popular Zulu krewe, marching clubs including one led by clarinetist Pete Fountain and the time-honored parade of Rex, King of Carnival,” the AP reports.
But perhaps the most incalculable benefit the massive carnival will produce is a little bit of mental and emotional healing.
“BP promises to be a prime target for the revelers who dress up in satirical costumes and pack the French Quarter,” AP says.
Certainly, you can’t put a price on the ability to laugh at your own misfortunes and –– maybe after a couple of drinks — forget about it.
Celebrate with Danny at djoconn1@asu.edu
