Mardi Gras

The First Annual Texarkana Mardi Gras Festival was a fabulous start to what I am sure is going to be many more events to come.

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Celebrate Mardi Gras in Texarkana for the very first festival ever to be held in the Twin Cities!  Be on Front Street to catch the thousands of throws during the Krewe of Koinonia parade on Saturday.

Below is the schedule of events and list of vendors.

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Will Ferrell is in down in New Orleans filming the movie ‘Dogfight.’

Will led the annual Krewe of Bacchus parade Sunday. And, of course, he dressed up like a king. 

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Entertainment starts tonight with live music at Hopkins.A new club is open in Texarkana called Lead Bellies, located in the old Dixie Grill (aka Dixie Diner). Mardi Gras will be celebrated on Saturday at Fat Jack’s.

Find out where all the fun is happening in Texarkana right here.

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Did you think Mardi Gras was strictly a New Orleans thing? Think again.

In Belgium Mardi Gras is the most important day of the year. Belgians celebrate the Carnival of Binche in the city of Binche, which features lots of music and dancing.

Sweden celebrates Fettisdagen, translating to "Fat Tuesday."

In Canada Mardi Gras is celebrated throughout the country, especially in the french-speaking Quebec, where the Quebec Winter Carnival is one of the most iconic of Canadian festivals.

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Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday," a reference to the binge eating a lot of Catholics do before Lent. As is often the case with holidays, the Christian roots are intertwined with earlier pagan practices. It was very common for early church fathers to integrate elements of pagan ritual in an attempt to attract potential converts.

Mardi Gras itself originated in the Middle Ages and was brought to the U.S. by the French explorer Iberville. In 1827, Parisian-style masked balls were legalized in New Orleans after a long period of prohibition. The celebration soon became known for its celebrants' raucous behavior during fanciful parades.

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