), "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and ending on the day before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday" (in ethnic English tradition, Shrove Tuesday), referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which started on Ash Wednesday. Related popular practices were associated with celebrations before the fasting and religious obligations associated with the penitential season of Lent. Popular practices included wearing masks and costumes, overturning social conventions, dancing, sports competitions, parades, etc. Similar expressions to Mardi Gras appear in other European languages sharing the Christian tradition. In English, the day is called Shrove Tuesday, associated with the religious requirement for confession before Lent begins. - Source: Wikipedia
New Orleans police vowed to swiftly track down the gunmen who wounded 19 people at a neighborhood Mother's Day parade, the latest case of violence flaring up around a celebration in the city this year.
It's never too early raise the curtain on a 2016 presidential play. Sen. Rand Paul knows his lines and will command the political stage in Iowa on Friday — and in New Hampshire on Monday.
When he is not starring in action movies or promoting fitness, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a bona fide wonk — and the namesake of the University of Southern California's Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy. Yes, the Schwarzenegger Institute, where the motto is "advancing policy not politics."
After slicing through downtown traffic in the type of motorcade a head of state might expect, Geno Auriemma stepped out of Connecticut's bus, bowed his head to receive a Mardi Gras-style beaded necklace with a Final Four medallion on it and entered the team hotel to the music of a live brass band.
How did Prince close out South by Southwest Music Festival's weeklong showcase of rock n' roll?
By New Orleans standards, the Congo Square New World Rhythms Festival is relatively young, reaching its sixth year this month. But the music and culture that the two-day event celebrates made their way to the Gulf South region centuries ago.
This sequel to the breakout horror-film hit finds its young heroine once again undergoing the titular ritual.
Once upon a time, a State of the Union speech occasionally produced something memorable. James Monroe, in his seventh try, came up with the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, which would be the cornerstone of American foreign policy for decades.
If you need an antidote to last year's bitter election cycle, spend your Presidents Day poking fun at the dysfunctional politics that have overtaken Washington with Mark Russell, who has been performing his sharp political satire for more than 30 years.
Wet streets, puddles and soggy ground greeted revelers who braved rainy forecasts threatening to wash out Mardi Gras, New Orleans' biggest free show.
Despite threatening skies, the Mardi Gras party carried on as thousands of costumed revelers cheered glitzy floats with make-believe monarchs in an all-out bash before Lent. In the French Quarter, as usual, Fat Tuesday played out with all its flesh and raunchiness.
Wet streets, puddles and soggy ground greeted revelers who braved rainy forecasts threatening to wash out Mardi Gras, New Orleans' biggest free show.
Overcast skies and the threat of rain couldn't dampen the revelry of Mardi Gras as parades took to the streets Tuesday, showering costumed merrymakers with trinkets of all kinds.
Scattered showers didn't deter revelers Monday as thousands flocked to New Orleans' historic French Quarter and surrounding areas along the Mississippi River for festivities leading up to Mardi Gras.
Overcast skies and the threat of rain couldn't dampen the revelry of Mardi Gras as parades took to the streets early Tuesday, showering merrymaking crowds with trinkets of all kinds.
