Welcome to Kate's Country Mardi Gras!  For those of you not familiar with the celebration, it is a season of revelry that runs from Epiphany (the day, tradition has it, the Three Kings first visited the Christ child) and culminates in the celebration of Mardi Gras itself before Ash Wednesday begins a season of austerity. This year Mardi Gras falls early, on February 12. The most famous celebration takes place in New Orleans. Social organizations, called "Krewes," each sponsor a parade and a masquerade ball, each having a King and/or Queen. The first Krewe was the Mystik Krewe of Comus. The Krewe of Rex established many of the contemporary customs of the celebration, including the selection of a King of Carnival and the official colors of Mardi Gras: purple( representing justice), green (representing faith) and gold (representing power).

What does it all mean?

Ball: (tableau ball) a masked ball featuring, as entertainment, the performance of scenes depicting a specific theme.

Boef Gras:  the fatted bull or ox symbolizing the last meal eaten before the Lenten season of fasting

Krewe:  the generic term for all carnival organizations and clubs in New Orleans. Clubs are named from Greek, Roman or Egyptian mythology or for a neighborhood or historical personages.

King Cakes: oval, sugared cakes with a plastic baby doll inside.  The person who finds the baby doll is crowned king, buys the next cake, and throws the next party.

Doubloons:  aluminum coins bearing the krewe's insignia on one side and the parade's theme on the other.  These are one of the many types of "Throws".

Throws:  inexpensive souvenirs tossed from floats by costumed, masked krewe members in response to the traditional calls of "Throw Me Something Mister" from the crowd during the parades.  Onlookers compete for the largest collection!