Celebrate Carnival

Tuesday, March 1 is Carnival; Pancake Day; Shrove Tuesday; Mardi Gras – the holiday goes by many names around the world as people from Venice to Rio de Janeiro to Edinburgh to New Orleans celebrate the period before Lent. In the U.S., we celebrate “Mardi Gras”, literally “Fat Tuesday” in French. The holiday is celebrated as Shrove Tuesday and “Pancake Day” in countries like the U.K., Ireland, Australia and Canada, and traditionally, on this day people made pancakes to use up the sweet sugar in the house prior to Lent. 

Mardi Gras marks the last day before the liturgical period of Lent which begins on Ash Wednesday, March 2, this year. While the history of Carnival has roots as a spring festival celebration, today the holiday is connected with Christian traditions and the Lenten period of self-reflection. Since the period of Lent is one in which people traditionally fast or give up something, the Carnival period before is the time when people indulge prior to the fast. From Venice to Rio de Janeiro to New Orleans, famous Carnival celebrations attract visitors from around the world to join in their celebrations with music, dancing, food and drink. 

 Here are ways you can participate locally this year:

• March 1 “Mardi Gras San Francisco Style” - Fat Tuesday in the Fillmore San Francisco
• March 2 Ash Wednesday Mass at the Mission Church, SCU

 

Best,

Susan Popko,
Associate Provost for International Programs

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