Cajun Mardi Gras
Masks
Mardi Gras is a
festival of feasting, dancing, and enjoyment of life. It is a time
when the community gathers together and celebrates in merriment.
Mardi Gras is the last day before Ash Wednesday. It is celebrated
because it is the last day to really feast before Lent. Lent is a
forty-day fast from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday that Christian
cultures observe. Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is the time to eat
lavishly before the commencement of Lent. The day-long celebration,
or run as it is called, is something that the entire Cajun culture
gets involved in. Contrary to popular belief, the real Mardi Gras
does not take place in New Orleans with a huge parade and everyone
watching and of course, extravagant parties.
In the New Orleans
celebration the main difference is the size. The audience gets up to
a hundred thousand people just to watch a parade. In Cajun Mardi
Gras, the parade bigger and comes to the audience. This means that
the parade goes from house to house giving each family a private
show. Made up of beggars and game players, the Mardi Gras, as they
are called individually, put on a lively party for their audience.
Also, the central theme of the New Orleans show is a parade through
the middle of the city whereas the central theme of the Cajun
carnival is house visits. Basically, in New Orleans, the spectators
visit the Mardi Gras, but with the Cajun the Mardi Gras come to the
spectators.
There are
differences in the dress as well. In New Orleans there are some
common colors: purple, green and gold. They represent the liturgical
banners used by the Catholic Church to mark the Lent season. The
colors are draped all over the costumes, balloons, streamers and
masks. In terms of masks, the New Orleans Mardi Gras uses a half-face
mask. In the Cajun Mardi Gras, all of these aspects are different.
The colors are vastly less conspicuous.