Mardi Gras 2027
Two weeks of parades, ending on Fat Tuesday.
Countdown to Mardi Gras 2027
Dates
When is Mardi Gras?
Mardi Gras 2027 falls on Tuesday, 9 February 2027.
Fat Tuesday is 9 February, 47 days before Easter (28 March); parade season builds over the preceding weeks.
Date checked against timeanddate.com
| Year | Dates | Length | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 17 February 2026Tue | 1 day | Past |
| 2027 | 9 February 2027Tue | 1 day | Confirmed |
See every festival by date in the 2026 festival calendar and 2027 festival calendar.
The story
What it is, and why it matters
- Type
- Parade & Carnival
- Tradition
- Christian
- Where
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Crowd
- 1.4 million visitors
- UNESCO
- Not inscribed
Roughly seventy krewes parade over twelve days. The throws — beads, doubloons, cups, speared chicken — are the point, and the crowds come prepared.
Carnival season technically opens on 6 January, Twelfth Night, with the first king cake of the year. The parades concentrate in the final two weeks, running from Uptown through St Charles Avenue and into the Central Business District.
The marching clubs are the other half of it: the North Side Skull & Bone Gang at dawn, the Mardi Gras Indians in hand-beaded suits sewn over a year, and Zulu handing out coconuts that are now thrown rather than handed.
Culture
Traditions, food and music of Mardi Gras
Traditions
What actually happens
- King cake — cinnamon dough with a plastic baby, from Twelfth Night to Ash Wednesday.
- Throws — beads, doubloons, MoonPies and painted coconuts from float riders.
- Mardi Gras Indians — Black masking traditions, suits beaded entirely by hand.
- Lundi Gras and Rex — the monarch's arrival on Fat Tuesday and the city going quiet.
Food
The table, widened
- Gumbo, jambalaya, crawfish étouffée and red beans on Monday.
- King cake with cream-cheese icing, and a Hurricane you did not order.
Music
Sound of the crowd
Brass bands are the spine. Rebirth, Hot 8 and the TBC Brass Band play second-line rhythms for hours without amplification; the parade bands mostly play recordings of 1980s funk from truck-mounted speakers.
Religion
Why this date
Mardi Gras is Fat Tuesday — the last day before Lent's fasting begins. New Orleans kept a French Catholic carnival calendar and folded Spanish, African and Caribbean practice into it, which is why it looks nothing like a European one.
History
How it survived
French settlers celebrated carnival from 1699. Spanish governors restricted masked processions in the eighteenth century; the Mistick Krewe of Comus revived them in 1857 with a torchlit parade and a themed ball, which set the modern template.
History
How it got here
French settlers celebrated carnival from 1699. Spanish governors restricted masked processions in the eighteenth century; the Mistick Krewe of Comus revived them in 1857 with a torchlit parade and a themed ball, which set the modern template.
1699
First recorded
French explorers mark the occasion near present-day New Orleans.
1857
Mistick Krewe
Comus stages the first torchlit themed parade with a ball afterwards.
1979
Police strike
State troopers enforce a no-mask ordinance; the parade continues unmasked.
Today
1.4 million
Around 1.4 million visitors arrive for the final two weeks.
Travel & practical
Visiting New Orleans for Mardi Gras
Getting there
MSY, then a 20-minute airport shuttle. Do not drive to the parade routes.
Where to stand
Uptown on St Charles for the big krewes; the French Quarter for the street culture.
Practical notes
Bring a ladder chair with a bag for throws. Never reach into a float, and mind the streetcar tracks.
Plan the trip with free AltFTool tools
FAQ
Mardi Gras: common questions
Straight answers to what people ask most about Mardi Gras.
Do I need a costume?
No, but many people wear one. Nothing on the parade routes is formal.
When exactly is Mardi Gras?
It is 47 days before Easter, so it falls between 3 February and 9 March.
Is the French Quarter safe?
The parade routes are heavily policed and family-heavy. Side streets after midnight are a different matter.
Also in February 2027
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