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= Mardi Gras is a traditional holiday celebrated in many of the southern states of the United States. The most famous celebration takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. Mardi Gras was brought to New Orleans by the French in the early 1700s. The early explorers celebrated the holiday on the banks of the Mississippi River. = = Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday". = ==The name comes from the ancient custom of parading a fat ox through Paris on this day. The ox was to remind the people that they were not allowed to eat meat during Lent. Lent is a Catholic tradition. It is the period of penance that precedes Easter. (Lent runs from Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday.)==



==In the early 1800s, Mardi Gras consisted of masked people that were on foot, in carriages, and on horseback. In 1837, a costumed group of people walked in the 1st "parade." These early parades were marked with violence so they ended Mardi Gras in 1855.A few years later (1857) the first Krewe was formed. It was called Comus. They established several Mardi Gras traditions by forming a secret Carnival society, choosing a mythological namesake, presenting a themed parade with floats and costumed maskers, and followed their parade with a Mardi Gras Ball.==