@ your library (R) ......by Paige Turner February 3, 2005 Mardi Gras! Are you going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras next week? If not, you can still learn all about it @ your library (R). The Mammoth Lakes Library is a wonderful source of information about this festive holiday. Carnival celebrations start on January 6, the Twelfth Night (Feast of Epiphany); however, the big celebration is on "Mardi Gras" or Fat Tuesday, February 8 this year. Carnival is celebrated in many places but Mardi Gras in New Orleans is by far the most notable -- even more so than Carnival in Brazil which is quite elaborate. The name Fat Tuesday comes from the custom of parading a fat ox through the streets of Paris on Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday and Mardi Gras both precede Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent, the forty-day period before Easter excluding Sundays. Lent ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday. In case you don't remember the formula, Easter falls on the Sunday that coincides with the first Sunday after the full moon following the Spring Equinox. Whew, that's a mouthful! Roots of the Mardi Gras traditions can be found in ancient Greece and Rome. Carnival in Rome became popular around the middle of the second century as a way to feast and act wild before the somber days of Lent. They wore costumes and masks, celebrated Bacchus and Venus, and all things glutinous and pleasurable. The Bacchus parade is still held during Mardi Gras. In 1872, the official Carnival colors were established as purple, green, and yellow when the Russian Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff came to New Orleans during Carnival in pursuit of actress Lydia Thompson. These were the colors of the Romanoff house. Purple stands for justice, green for faith and yellow for power. Carnival organizations are called Krewes. The first krewe was the "Mystick Krewe of Comus" which began in 1857. The second oldest krewe is the Krewe of Rex, which started up in 1872. Balls of elaborate and enormous proportion are held every year but only members of the Krewes may attend. Parades fill the streets. Beads, coins, balls, cups and other trinkets are thrown to the crowds. In 1872, the Krewe of Rex staged a daytime parade in the archduke's honor. This parade is still held and is the largest of all the parades. Zulu began to parade in 1916 featuring characters such as King Zulu, Big Shot, and the Witch Doctor which are city favorites to this day. While Rex rules Carnival with a golden scepter and jeweled crown, King Zulu carries a banana stalk and wears a lard can on his head. Food in New Orleans is incredible. A Mardi Gras specialty is King's Cake. It is a circular sweetroll-like cake with a hidden treasure, a tradition that originated during the medieval times. Originally a gold bean was baked inside but today, to avoid choking, a plastic baby is placed inside instead. The Twelfth Night Revelers, a Mardi Gras Krewe, use a King's Cake to randomly select the queen for krewe. The one who finds the baby gets to be queen. At parties, offices, and causal gatherings the lucky one who finds the baby gets to bring a King's Cake to the next occasion and/or be "king" for the day. Other delicious New Orleans foods include Bananas Foster, Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, Hush Puppies, and Bread Pudding. After all, food is one of the best things about New Orleans and Mardi Gras! TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK: What is the largest book in the Library of Congress? What is the smallest book in the Library of Congress? ANSWER TO LAST WEEK'S QUESTION: Last year the Mammoth Lakes Library received over 76,000 visits. It also had 2,100 computer users each month. Not bad for our little town of 7,093.