The Carnival in New Orleans is the most famous in the United States, known as Mardi Gras (a French term meaning Fat Tuesday). This movement began in Louisiana around 1699 – the year the first documentation of this event occurred – an initiative of French colonizers.
Throughout Mardi Gras, more than 50 groups hold their parades throughout the city.
Bars do not close and are packed, showcasing the most bizarre costumes. People get drunk and throw a huge party in the streets.
This festival has become popular for its plaster masks, bead necklaces, and its groups that form small bands throughout the carnival month, reaching its peak on ‘Fat Tuesday’, which ends the Carnival, a day before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins. The sovereign of this festivity is King Zulu, and the soundtrack is composed of a fusion of rhythms of African descent.
At Mardi Gras, female nudity has become conventional. Students reveal their breasts in exchange for bead necklaces.
Source: www.infoescola.com, by Ana Lucia Santana