Do you know what Mardi Gras is? Every year, the people in New Orleans celebrate Mardi Gras, which is French for “Fat Tuesday”that falls  in March this year. This holiday is the day before Ash Wednesday, and it begins a season of fasting known as Lent, for many Christians leading up to Easter Sunday. In Brazil, the people hold a big celebration that they call Carnival (Mardi Gras). It involves parties, parades, and bright costumes. The Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, Louisiana is typical with the masquerades and dancing in the streets. Most carnival celebrations last three days to a week.

Not many people in the Freedom School District celebrate Mardi Gras, but the ones who do, really enjoy it. Hannah Stinar is one of the few who celebrate it and she says that the music is her favorite part of Mardi Gras. She states that to celebrate this special holiday she enjoys watching the parade on TV. Some people who don’t know what this holiday is only think that it is a party where people wear bead necklaces and dance to 70s music. when it is so much more than that.

Anna Araujo-Souza, a new student from Brazil, has said that there was not a parade in her city but she still loved to celebrate Mardi Gras. 

“I love seeing all the happy people,” Araujo-Souza said. She says she wishes that there was a parade in her city.