Fat Tuesday Celebration at Salve

By: Meredith Hagan
Posted In: Entertainment

The Salve Campus Ministry is holding the annual Mardi Gras celebration on Tuesday, Feb. 28 in Miley Hall. The festivities start at 8 p.m.

The Mardi Gras Committe has been planning the event for several months, anticipating the large crowd that attends every year.

This year’s celebration will be like years past and will include dancing contests, bingo and trivia quizzes. There will also be lots of beads, of course! The festivities will also include lots of food – pizza, nachos, ice cream and more. The main event, though, will be crowning the king and the queen which will take place around 9:30 p.m.

The celebration is sponsored by ARISE, a student group that focuses on the healthy spiritual development of Salve students.

Mardi Gras, in its long tradition, has for many people meant a care-free celebration that includes lots of beads and food.

The holiday originated in France in the Middles Ages as a way for preparing for the long fast during Lent. The purpose of the holiday was a way to get rid of all the indulgent food before the 40 days of Lent. “Mardi Gras” in French literally means “fat Tuesday.” It refers to the Tuesday which preceeds Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.

The holiday slowly grew to emcompass the week before Ash Wednesday and it als grew geographically. Eventually the celebration made its home in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations are notorious for large parades, lavish costumes, excessive intake of food and drinks, but also, lots of beads. People come from all over the world to experience a New Orleans Mardi Gras. Even in the wake of the damage and destruction cause by Hurricane Katrina, people will gather to celebration.

Students who will attdend Salve’s Mardi Gras celebration are guaranteed , by comittee members, a fun time. “You’ll get beeds just for coming to the party,” said Susan Kerensky, a committee member.

At the end of the night, the person with the most beads will win a grand prize.