If you can’t make it to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, you can celebrate Mardi Gras At Home with masks, King cakes, and more.
To make this the best holiday, check out the rest of our Mardi Gras posts.
Our community threw a big Mardi Gras party one year at our clubhouse and it was so much fun. But last year, we had to figure out how to celebrate Mardi Gras at home because the world was still sort of closed.
It was just the latest on a long list of holidays that had to change.
Plus, Mardi Gras always falls on a Tuesday and not everyone celebrates Thirsty Tuesday. So most people do actually celebrate Mardi Gras at home.
It’s always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, which is 40 days before Easter. So Mardi Gras signifies the start of Easter, but also the end of Carnival season in New Orleans.
Since Easter changes annually, so does Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras 2026 falls on February 17.
How To Celebrate Mardi Gras At Home
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To best celebrate Mardi Gras, you need to know a little bit about the holiday. So let’s start there.
Mardi Gras Definitions
Let’s start with a couple definitions.
Mardi Gras is the French way to say “Fat Tuesday.” It’s also known as Shrove Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday.
Shrove Tuesday is named so because “to shrive” is hear a confession and implore penance. So, when Christians go to confession, they confess and the priest shrives.
It’s always the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. And Ash Wednesday is 40(-ish) days before Easter.
On that day, Catholics go to confession to obtain absolution for their sins. So the Tuesday before Lent is known as Shrove Tuesday.
But, it’s also Pancake Tuesday.
These days, Christians abstain from meat on certain days during the Lenten season (Ash Wednesday and every Friday). Christians use this time to better themselves, often by sacrifice (giving up something enjoyable).
Back in the day, Christians required a lot more willpower during Lent. Instead of just giving up one thing they enjoy, they’d pretty much give up anything delicious. What would follow was 40 days of bland, boring food. No eggs. No butter. Nothing good.
What do you do with eggs and butter? You make pancakes. And so, Pancake Day was born.
Carnival Season In New Orleans
Little Christmas, also known as Epiphany, is January 6. That’s the official end of the Christmas season and, side note, the day I feel like it’s okay to start taking down Christmas decorations.
So Christmas season ends January 6 and Carnival season starts right after.
Many tourists will say they’re going to New Orleans for Mardi Gras, but they actually mean Carnival.
Carnival is everything that happens from the day after Little Christmas until Fat Tuesday, and that includes the famous parades (You can see the full parade schedule here), which run until February 28.
Mardi Gras Colors
New Orleans used to be a French settlement. In 1699, settlers threw their first party where they landed in Point du Mardi Gras, near where New Orleans is currently. So that’s, technically, the first Mardi Gras celebration.
Street parties, dinners, and balls were then held annually there. But when the Spanish came in and took over the city, they put the kibosh on those celebrations.
Fast forward to 1812. Louisiana becomes a state and the United States is all, “Do you. Have your party.”
So they do. Fifteen years later, in 1827, some students visited Paris and were all, “Yo, Paris’ Mardi Gras is way cooler.” So they decided to emulate that and dance in the streets with colorful costumes.
Ten years later, in 1837, people upped the ante and instead of just dancing in the streets, there was a parade.
Twenty years later, a group of businessmen said, “Hold my beer.”
These guys started a secret society called the Mistick Krewe of Comus and threw an entire parade — with marching bands and rolling floats — by torch light.
So cool.
So now, Mardi Gras parade and event organizers are known as a krewe.
One of these krewes, the mononymous Rex, which has been participating in the festivities since 1872, introduced now traditional Mardi Gras colors of gold, green, and purple.
It’s said that the Krewe of Rex established these colors in 1892 at the “Symbolism of Colors” parade.
Gold signifies power, green is faith, and purple is justice.
Over 125 years later, these colors and Rex are still a part of Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
At Home Mardi Gras Ideas
Set Up A Mardi Gras Playlist
Mardi Gras is known for its music. So create a playlist with New Orleans jazz, brass bands, and zydeco music.
To make your life even easier, the New Orleans tourism board curated a Mardi Gras Music playlist on Spotify.
So, you don’t even have to do any work. Just open that link on Spotify it and play it all party long.
Set Up Mardi Gras Decorations
What’s a party without great decorations? That really sets the mood.
I set out our Mardi Gras towels, regardless of if we’re having a party or not (because, if you’ve been here a while, you know I have kitchen towels for every occasion).
Set out purple, yellow, and green tablecloths over your tables. You can do one color on each table or layer them all on one table, if you’re only using a buffet table for food.
Then, set up some cute Mardi Gras themed décor. You can purchase decorations like that or you can DIY your own if you have a little more time. Just be sure to incorporate the Mardi Gras colors, beads, and a fleur-de-lis into your creations.
If you do plan on buying Mardi Gras decorations online, you can find some at the following stores:
Don’t forget to look at a store’s cart minimum to qualify for free shipping. Also consider instore or curbside pickup to avoid shipping charges.
Throw Mardi Gras Beads
A Mardi Gras party isn’t complete without beads, although, Mardi Gras throws, which they’re called, don’t have too much significance in Mardi Gras folklore.
Really, they’re basically just party favors thrown to get partygoers excited. There’s not much more to it than that.
But you should throw some at your party to get your party guests excited.
Open a window and have your guests stand under it. This could be a second story window, if you’re being safe, or just a first floor window. Throw Mardi Gras beads towards your guests that they can then wear as a colorful necklace.
Make DIY Mardi Gras Masks
Masks are a huge part of Mardi Gras. But, you might be wondering, “Why do people wear masks for Mardi Gras?”
It’s pretty simple, actually.
Mardi Gras masks were a way for people to party with less inhibitions. Their faces were covered, in theory, and no one would recognize them.
That sounds pretty ridiculous until you think of how many people you didn’t recognize when you were in the grocery store and everyone was wearing masks covering their noses and mouths. But I digress.
Wearing masks meant people weren’t worried about who they were, what their lineage was, what their status was, or how much money they had.
If you’re celebrating Mardi Gras at home, we definitely suggest checking out our DIY Mardi Gras masks tutorial for inspiration to make your own masks. You can decorate them with glitter, feathers, foam, sequins … whatever your heart desires.
That’s a really fun way to get your kids involved too. They may not be too interested in the food, but they’ll love the crafts.
Serve Mardi Gras Food
There are a lot of classic Mardi Gras foods, so it’s really easy to plan your Mardi Gras menu. Our current favorite is Mardi Gras Pasta, made with shrimp and sausage in a pasta tossed with a Cajun alfredo sauce.
A few really classic New Orleans options are a Muffaletta Sandwich, Jambalaya or gumbo, and Shrimp Po’Boys. You could also make a seafood etouffee, which is shellfish in a thick, roux-based sauce served over white rice
And, for dessert, coffee and a beignet is so classic New Orleans.
Of course, you don’t have to serve everything at your party. Just pick a couple items that your guests or your family will like.
Serve Some Mardi Gras Cocktails (Or Mocktails)
There are a few cocktails that are synonymous with New Orleans, like the Hurricane (a fruity, rum-based cocktail served in a very distinct glass) and Sazerac (a rye whisky based drink). The latter is actually the official drink of the city.
There’s also the Ramos Gin Fizz, known as the New Orleans Fizz because it originated there.
If you’re hosting anyone who is 21+, these drinks would be great for them (just please, enjoy them responsibility and don’t consume them if you’re driving home).
For kids (or adults like me who don’t drink or Pete who doesn’t drink during the workweek), go with mocktails. You can make layered frozen lemonade, in Mardi Gras colors, for something fun.
Make Mardi Gras Desserts
A really fun way to incorporate the Mardi Gras colors into your meal is with Mardi Gras dessert.
Our Mardi Gras Candy Bark recipe uses three different colors of candy melts and sugar pearls to make it to make it look festive.
We also have a couple easy cookie recipes, like our Mardi Gras Meringues and Mardi Gras Oreo Cookies.
Buy A King Cake
A King Cake is brioche cake with a plastic baby inside.
The small plastic baby figurine is baked into the cake itself, but no one knows exactly where it is. Pieces of the cake are sliced and handed out amongst guests.
Whoever gets the slice with the baby (which is supposed to represent baby Jesus) gets good luck and prosperity for the coming year — and the responsibility to make next year’s cake.
Make Pancakes
If you really want to celebrate the pancake part of Pancake Tuesday rather than Mardi Gras, check out our list of Pancake Recipes or just make our favorites:
Having a whole pancake party, with a variety of pancakes, sounds like a really fun Mardi Gras party alternative.
In the comments, let us know how you are planning on celebrating Mardi Gras at home.
Rebecca Payne
Monday 15th of February 2021
Thank you for sharing .