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Informative Essay On Mardi Gras

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Holidays and cultural celebration serve a function in society and Carnival is no different. The importance of this celebration has endured for centuries and will continue to do so, because it allows people to lose control in an acceptable manner. Furthermore, it also serves a purpose in providing light and in the midst of the long, dark winter months, and people need this sort of joyous celebration during that time of the year. Nowadays carnival is celebrated in a myriad of different countries, in a lot of divergent manners, although most of the time it is restricted to certain areas. Evidently, in a few areas the celebration is more prominently recognised than in others. Within the scope of this essay the different aspects regarding carnival …show more content…

New Orleans is a multicultural city, which elucidates the origin of Mardi Gras. It has all to do with the city’s racial order. During Mardi Gras it was common to be dressed up and to mask ones face. The masking hid the face form being seen, and therefore hid someone’s race. This made it possible for Black Orleanais to mingle with white Orleanais. Remarkable for Mardi Gras is that I survived not only the First World War, but also the Great Depression, the United States of America faced in the thirties. Nevertheless, Mardi Gras only first gained international interest in the late eighties. This international popularity caused an increase in tourism and ever since Mardi Gras is very commercial. For instance, during the festivities you can book whole vacations to New Orleans to visit the parade and other festivities. Mardi Gras aligns with the celebration of carnival in the Netherlands, and similar to the ‘Prins Carnaval’ in the Netherlands a king is chosen during Mardi Gras, who is called ‘Rex, the King of Carnival’. An additional correspondence between the two interpretations of carnival is the parades, which are held in both New Orleans and in a myriad of Dutch villages as mentioned

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