Mardi Gras 2011: How Some Cities Are Celebrating Fat Tuesday

When you think of Mardi Gras, known also as "Fat Tuesday," most reference the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. In fact, the Mardi Gras celebration is the basis of the city's slogan, "Laissez les bons temps rouler," which translates to "Let the good times roll."

In this installment we take a look at how the city of New Orleans celebrates Mardi Gras, and give you some information on how a few other cities are celebrating Fat Tuesday.

New Orleans, Louisiana
The Mardi Gras experience starts in the city's most famous neighborhood, The French Quarter. There, the city's Carnival celebrations begin, with locals and tourists convening to commence in days of partying. Traditionally, the Mardi Gras experience consists of exotic parades with large, motorized floats and parade-goers dressed in extravagant costumes. While many believe that the parades and parties are mostly limited to Bourbon Street, there are also parades that follow routes along St. Charles Avenue and Canal Street.

The city of New Orleans has set up a website, MardiGrasParadeSchedule.com, to provide information on the dozens of parades taking place on Fat Tuesday. The partying, drinking, and, of course, exchanging of beads, can be found just about anywhere within the city's borders.

Mobile, Alabama
The oldest continual annual Carnival celebration began in Mobile, Ala., in 1703. They too follow the same tradition as what we know as Mardi Gras, dressing up in extravagant costumes and parading through the city streets from morning until late in the evening, however often referring to it as Lundi Gras.

One of the more popular parades is the "King's Parade," which marks the arrival of King Felix III from the Isle of Joy to his capital.

On Fat Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday as they sometimes refer to it, the parades run all day, starting with the Order of Athena Parade at 10:30 a.m. The evening concludes with the Order of Myths Parade, which is run by the oldest parading society in Mobile, known as the Order of Myths (1867).

St. Louis, Missouri
One of the local traditions, which has animal lovers from all over the world attending, is the Beggin' Strips Barkus Pet Parade, which is the largest animal parade in North America. Also popular is the PetSmart Wiener Dog Derby, which is in its 17th year of existence.

The Mayor's Ball allows for locals to dress up and act out their own animal instincts, with the Lumiere Place Light Up the Night Fat Tuesday Parade wrapping up Fat Tuesday in downtown St. Louis.

If you'd like to find out more on the parades, maps, parking and much more, the city of St. Louis has set up a user-friendly website with all the information you need.

Miami and Orlando, Florida
Many in Miami head over to The Fish House for a Mardi Gras party, which starts at 2 p.m. and promises a "Live Crawfish Boil," beads (of course), a free concert, prizes and, naturally, fun.

In Orlando, Universal Studios provides a family-friendly atmosphere with street performers, costumes, parades and traditional zydeco music. This all-day event is geared more toward families, providing a French Quarter experience rife with beads in order to dress up the experience and not dress down the locals.

San Francisco, California
Mardi Gras in the Fillmore is a four-day event which began on Saturday, March 5. They kicked off the event with a kids carnival, reggae music jugglers, stilt-walkers and more.

The experience culminates with the 5th Annual Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball/Fundraiser, which takes place on Tuesday night. Naturally, the event will be filled with traditional Mardi Gras music, food fun and garb.