Rio de Janeiro isn’t the only place that celebrates Carnival: the USA knows a thing or two about partying themselves. Each year, the legendary festival of Mardi Gras takes place in a number of cities: an explosion of colour, costumes and revelry, especially in New Orleans. All you need to share in the revelry is to submit an ESTA application to enter the USA.
Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras takes place in late February or early March. Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday” and marks the end of the carnival season and the beginning of Lent. Despite its popularity, Mardi Gras is not celebrated everywhere in the USA: it is mainly popular in some traditionally French cities and regions, and especially in New Orleans.
Partying in The Big Easy
It is not surprising that Mardi Gras is mainly celebrated in traditionally French cities: the party originated as a French Catholic tradition. It came to the United States in the 17th century with the Le Moyne brothers: Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.
In New Orleans, the largest city in the state of Louisiana, Mardi Gras is a massive event. This is not surprising as Louisiana was a French colony for a long time. Mardi Gras is an integral part of New Orleans’ cultural heritage, and this is definitely the city in the USA that travellers should visit if they want to see where the party is most lavishly celebrated. It is also celebrated in Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge, and in Lafayette. Louisiana is not the only state where Mardi Gras is celebrated; Alabama, Texas and Missouri also have their own Mardi Gras celebrations.
New Orleans turns green, gold and purple
The typical colours of Mardi Gras are green, gold and purple. The chains thrown from the floats during the parades are of these colours, and partygoers are often dressed in one of the traditional colours.
The official colours were introduced in 1872 and the story goes that three colours were chosen because the ruling countries at the time – the United States, Britain and France – all had tricoloured flags. The colours themselves are said to have been chosen in honour of the visit of the Russian Grand Duke Aleksandrovič Romanov, as the Romanov family’s colours of arms are purple, green and gold.
Rio de Janeiro isn’t the only place that celebrates Carnival: the USA knows a thing or two about partying themselves. Each year, the legendary festival of Mardi Gras takes place in a number of cities: an explosion of colour, costumes and revelry, especially in New Orleans. All you need to share in the revelry is to submit an ESTA application to enter the USA.
Royal feast
Party preparations: apply for an ESTA
Mardi Gras is not just popular within the USA. Each year, countless of partygoers and festival lovers head to the States to experience this legendary festival. A large number of these are from other Western countries, mainly Europe. Europeans face little difficulty when travelling to the USA. This is because they can apply for an ESTA instead of a visa.
Almost all European countries are included in America’s Visa Waiver Program, allowing citizens from these countries to travel to the USA without a visa. Instead, they need to submit an ESTA application. The benefits of the ESTA are that it is a lot cheaper than a visa and the approval times are far shorter as well. In fact, it’s not unusual for an ESTA application to be approved the same day. Meanwhile, visa applications can take weeks if not months to go through.
Once you’ve got your ESTA sorted out, nothing stands in your way to experience Mardi Gras for yourself!