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--color-end: var(--bgcolor-content-end);" ><div class="content"> <div class="label gradient-to-tr" style="--color-start: #96445a; --color-end: #6f637e;">Question</div> <div class="sponsor-sidebar"><div class="desktop-show" align="center"><div class="adManager-placeholder"></div></div></div> <h1><span itemprop="name headline" property="og:title">What is the origin of Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras?</span></h1> <div class="actions-wrap"><div class="actions"> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="INTL/Mardi-Gras-Fat-Tuesday.html" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'intl'});"><img src="img/translate-icon.svg" alt="translate"></a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" property="og:video" href="https://youtu.be/rZ_s8FYOGpU" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'video'});"><img src="img/logo-youtube.svg" alt="video" class="questionInteract"></a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://printer.gotquestions.net/GeneratePF?articleId=117" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'print'});"><img src="img/print.svg" class="questionInteract" alt="Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras"></a> <span class="audio-icon"><img src="img/volume.svg" alt="audio" class="questionInteract"><audio controls preload="none" style="width:300px;height:25px"><source src="audio/Mardi-Gras-Fat-Tuesday.mp3" type="audio/mpeg"></audio></span> </div></div> <div itemprop="articleBody"> <div class="label gradient-to-tr" style="--color-start: #29a699; --color-end: #749c5a;">Answer</div><br><br> Mardi Gras, which is French for “Fat Tuesday,” is the last day of a season called “<a href="what-is-Carnival.html">Carnival</a>.” The Carnival season is characterized by merrymaking, feasting, and dancing. Mardi Gras is the culmination of festivities and features parades, masquerades, and, unfortunately, often drunkenness and shameless debauchery. Carnival is typically celebrated in Catholic countries of southern Europe and Latin America.<br><br> <div class="youtube-player" data-id="rZ_s8FYOGpU"></div><br> The excess of Carnival may not seem to have much in common with the austerity of <a href="what-is-Lent.html">Lent</a>, but the two seasons are inseparable. The day after Fat Tuesday is <a href="Ash-Wednesday.html">Ash Wednesday</a>; therefore, the end of Carnival is followed immediately by the beginning of Lent. Lent is a time of fasting and penance in preparation for Easter. Carnival, then, can rightly be seen as the indulgence before the fast. It is one last “binge” before having to give something up for 40 days.<br><br> What does the Bible say about all this? There is nothing in the Bible that in any way suggests that early Christians observed either Lent or Carnival. And, of course, there is no biblical support for the kind of fleshly indulgence generally practiced on Fat Tuesday. The Bible expressly forbids drunkenness, carousing, and sexual fornication. Romans 13:13-14 says, “Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.”<br><br> In general, Mardi Gras revelers engage in a binge of sinning before a time of consecration to God. The celebration of Mardi Gras fosters the notion that you can do whatever you want on Fat Tuesday, as long as you show up in church on Ash Wednesday. It’s the bender before the benediction, and it’s utterly unscriptural.<br><br> <strong>Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras Calendar:</strong><br> 2025 — March 4<br> 2026 — February 17<br><br> </div> <section class="homepage-sponsor desktop-hide"> <div class="desktop-hide" align="center"><div class="adManager-placeholder-mobile"></div></div> </section> <div class="related resources"><h4>For Further Study</h4> <a target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'amazon'});" href="https://amzn.to/3FEyPbI">The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas</a><br><br> <a target="_blank" rel="sponsored noopener" onClick="gtag('event', 'click', {'event_category':'engagement', 'event_label':'logos'});" href="https://www.logos.com/?utm_campaign=logossubxlaunch-phase1&utm_source=gotquestions&utm_medium=advertising_display&utm_content=logossubxlaunch-phase1-gtlink">More insights from your Bible study - Get Started with Logos Bible Software for Free!</a> </div> <div class="related topics"><h4>Related Articles</h4> <a href="what-is-Carnival.html">What is Carnival?</a><br><br> <a href="Ash-Wednesday.html">What is Ash Wednesday?</a><br><br> <a href="Shrove-Tuesday.html">What is Shrove Tuesday?</a><br><br> <a href="what-is-Lent.html">What is the meaning of Lent?</a><br><br> <a href="Good-Friday.html">What is Good Friday / Holy Friday?</a> </div> <center><strong class="return">Return to:<br><br> <a class="button-link box-shadow" href="easter.html">Questions about Easter</a><br><br> What is the origin of Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras?</strong></center> </div> </section> <section class="subscribe gradient-to-br" style="--color-start: #153c59; --color-end: #1b537c"> <div class="grid"> <div class="gradient-to-br box-shadow" style="--color-start: #2c6482; --color-end: #64547b"> <h5>Subscribe to the</h5> <h3>Question of the Week</h3> <p>Get our Question of the Week delivered right to your inbox!</p> <iframe src="scommon/qotw.htm" title="question of the week" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="100%"></iframe> </div></div> </section> </main> <footer-element></footer-element> <center> <div itemprop="dateModified" content="2025-02-25">This page last updated: February 25, 2025</div></center> <script src="scripts-2025.js"></script> <div style="display: none;" itemprop="publisher" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Organization"><meta itemprop="name" content="GotQuestions.org"><div itemprop="logo" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject"> <img src="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/GQlogo.png"><meta itemprop="url" content="https://www.gotquestions.org/img/GQlogo.png"><meta itemprop="width" content="400"><meta itemprop="height" content="79"> </div></div> <div itemprop="video" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/VideoObject"><meta itemprop="embedURL" content="https://youtu.be/rZ_s8FYOGpU"><meta itemprop="name" content="What is the origin of Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras??"><meta itemprop="description" content="What is the origin of Fat Tuesday / Mardi Gras? 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