# Mardi Gras on a Wednesday? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 4, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861 "2014-03-04T20:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861/1 "2014-03-04T20:46:59Z")
Maybe we collectively failed our high school French classes, but where I live the big [Mardi Gras party is always held on Ash Wednesday](http://www.compasscayman.com/whatshot/2014/02/04/Mardi-Gras-Laissez-les-bons-temps-rouler/). It somehow seems a bit odd to me to host the drunken revelry on the first day of Lent, but that’s the way it’s done here. Anywhere else celebrate Mardi Gras on another day? Or perhaps another holiday celebrated on a different day of the week than normal (like Thanksgiving on Friday, for example) I’m leaving out when we move the official public holiday date to Monday when it falls on a weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861/2 "2014-03-04T21:22:47Z")
Ash Wednesday is the day to close Bourbon Street so the mess from the night before can be cleaned up. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861/3 "2014-03-04T21:25:47Z")
That is quite strange. The whole point of Mardi Gras (literally: Fat Tuesday) is to indulge on all the stuff you can’t during Lent. And of course, again - Mardi means Tuesday in French. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861/4 "2014-03-04T21:48:46Z")
> [@Iggy](#): > > Maybe we collectively failed our high school French classes, but where I live the big [Mardi Gras party is always held on Ash Wednesday](http://www.compasscayman.com/whatshot/2014/02/04/Mardi-Gras-Laissez-les-bons-temps-rouler/). It somehow seems a bit odd to me to host the drunken revelry on the first day of Lent, but that’s the way it’s done here. > > Anywhere else celebrate Mardi Gras on another day? Or perhaps another holiday celebrated on a different day of the week than normal (like Thanksgiving on Friday, for example) > > I’m leaving out when we move the official public holiday date to Monday when it falls on a weekend. Do they celebrate Good Friday on a Saturday? That would make about as much sense. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861/5 "2014-03-04T22:04:26Z")
Celebrate Fat Tuesday on a Wednesday? I’ve never heard of that. Ash Wednesday is the holy day that begins the 40 days of austerity, not celebration. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861/6 "2014-03-04T22:09:57Z")
Maybe they felt they were losing too much tourism to NOLA and Brazil, being inbetween the two. So, throw it on a Wednesday, get access to the two-day partiers who don’t quite care what Ash Wednesday means. ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mardi-gras-on-a-wednesday/682861/7 "2014-03-04T22:49:34Z")
And since Ash Wednesday is a full public holiday here, having the drunken debauchery on Tuesday night would allow all of Wednesday for hang over recovery. Instead people have to drag themselves into work Thursday morning in a less-than-ideal state.