New Orleans is gearing up for its biggest few weeks of the year, with a month-long season of parties culminating in Mardi Gras, on March 4, 2025—with the small matter of a Super Bowl before then on February 9.
This is a city built on a revelry, but also reckoning, one that is still reeling from the recent terror attack on New Year’s Day. As locals, we’re grappling with what these big events will look like, and how to honor the victims of the New Year’s tragedy, while keeping people safe and ensuring everyone has the good times for which they’ve planned and paid. So many are working so hard across Louisiana to find balance and restore confidence. (As Janna A. Zinzi reported for Afar, new security measures are in place and local people want Carnival season to bring the city together.)
You can’t stop the Mardi Gras spirit, and this year, favorites like Chewbacchus—the city’s parade homage to cult classic cinema and intergalactic fun—will roll through the French Quarter on February 1, with a comedic theme of Superb Owl. Thousands of four-legged friends parade on February 23, with the Krewe of Barkus, and the Krewe of Muses is already preparing the glittery heels they toss from floats Uptown, always the Thursday before to Mardi Gras (February 27).
However, Mardi Gras does not belong only to New Orleans. In fact, the tradition belongs to France, where Mardi Gras translates as Fat Tuesday—referring to slaughtering the fatted calf in anticipation of Lent (the Catholic, 40-day period where the faithful pray, fast, or abstain from vices for 40 days before Easter). Thus Mardi Gras is that last party before the marked time of abstinence.
Mardi Gras is truly a global phenomenon and every celebration is different, even if they are all tied to the liturgical calendar and the same principal of wild revelry. Here are a few places to ring in Fat Tuesday (and more mayhem weeks prior) around the world.
The coast of Alabama
Mobile, Alabama, is a historic, coastal city on scenic Mobile Bay, famed for fresh oysters and antebellum architecture. It’s also home to America’s oldest Mardi Gras celebrations. Journal entries around 1703 by Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, a French soldier and explorer in the region, mention Mardi Gras and settler camp parties to honor it.
Mobile’s Mardi Gras is a massive cultural event today, with 40 parades rolling through downtown, from the Twelfth Night on January 6 up until Fat Tuesday, which falls on March 4 in 2025. The grandest spectacle on Fat Tuesday is the Knights of Revelry Krewe, formed in the 1800s, with members following a main float depicting a towering champagne glass flanked by grinning moons.
To make the most of Mobile’s charms, consider bedding at the Malaga Inn, a boutique stay in twin townhouses that date back to 1862, mere blocks off the parade route. Enjoy a few of Alabama’s famed Murder Point oysters at Hummingbird Way restaurant and then finish your night with a glass of wine sky-high at Dauphin’s, one of the town’s fine-dining staples.
Mobile isn’t the only place to celebrate Mardi Gras in Alabama. Gulf Shores, one hour south by car, has some of the USA’s prettiest white-sand beaches and this year hosts the 46th Annual Mardi Gras Parade on Fat Tuesday.
“The best place to catch awesome throws is between East Fourth Street and the State Park,” says Julie Netemeyer, a krewe member in the city’s Mystic Order of Shiners. “We are the oldest krewe in Gulf Shores, established in 1979.” After the parade, Netemeyer says her krewe gathers at the Pink Pony Pub, where DJ Kev will be spinning tunes. “But there are many fantastic places,” she advises, “like the Hangout, Mikee’s, and the Beach House Kitchen and Cocktails.”
In Eunice, Louisiana, Mardi Gras has a Cajun twist. Expect gumbo, live music played from trucks, and some exquisite costumes.
Photo by Elliott Cowand Jr/Shutterstock
Cajun Country, Louisiana
Louisiana’s Cajun Country is Acadiana, a 22-parish region of the state, settled by Acadian French who immigrated from Canada in the late 1700s. They established river settlements, now preserved in time with historic homes, brick warehouses, antique shops, and petite diners. Towns like New Iberia, Eunice, Washington, and Lafayette have been hosting rowdy, traditionally Cajun Mardi Gras celebrations, featuring homemade gumbo alongside homemade costumes, for more than two centuries. Where New Orleans offers glittering, over-the-top galas and grandiose, orchestrated parades, in this region, homegrown events equal truck-bed concerts and krewe members on horseback.
“Meeting some locals is your best bet to really experiencing Cajun Mardi Gras properly,” says Stephen Ortego, who owns the boutique, nine-room Hotel Klaus, opened in 2024 in Washington, Louisiana. “Our best gatherings are on porches and in backyards,” he continues, “where locals embrace inviting newcomers.”
Getting an invite to a porch or backyard party means preparing the proper costuming, he advises. “If you come to Mardi Gras in Cajun Country, you must be totally disguised. Our costumes play upon the idea of peasants making fun of royalty. No one shows his or her face.”
For newcomers, online operators are a great source of quick costuming ideas, and Etsy and Facebook might be best bets for those wanting to purchase one new or secondhand. (The Louisiana tourist board also has a guide to making your own costume.)
“Chatting up locals will likely get you invited to a Chicken Run—one of Cajun Country’s coolest traditions,” Ortego says. Krewe members walk and ride horses past houses, begging for ingredients for a gumbo. Families gift rice, okra, and onions, then invite masked krewe members to chase a chicken around the yard, dancing with it before it’s caught.
“At the end of the day, the gumbo is prepared for everyone to share,” he says. “Each town is only a few miles from the next, so you can eat gumbo in Eunice, for example, and then stay in Washington at Hotel Klaus, easily. There aren’t that many hotels around here, so prebooking is key.”
The Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school won the 2023 carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro. Their motif was a tribute to a famous bandit known as Captain Virgulino Ferreira, or Lampião.
Photo by Andre Luiz Moreira/Shutterstock
Rio de Janerio, Brazil
“Carnival is celebrated across Brazil, and each region has its own traditions and charms. However, Rio de Janeiro is a unique and complete destination,” says Roberta Werner, executive director for Visit Rio. “Although Brazilian Carnival and Mardi Gras share roots in the liturgical calendar and are celebrated with music, dance, and vibrant colors, they have distinct characteristics. Carnival in Rio is highly organized and competitive, especially with the samba school parades at the Sambadrome.”
You don’t need tickets for the street gatherings in Rio, but you will need tickets to the competitions at the Sambadrome, which occur during the official week of Carnival, between Febuary 28 to March 8, 2025. Rehearsals are held the month prior and are also worth watching, with both free and ticketed options.
Tenerife comes alive with costumes and fun during February and early March. There are a number of direct flights from the USA to the island.
Photo by AldisToome/Shutterstock
Tenerife, Spain
Tenerife, the largest island in Spain’s Canary chain, is renowned for historic plazas and volcanic beaches, biodiversity that includes 800 unique species of flora and fauna, and six different ecosystems. It’s also home to one of the world’s biggest Mardi Gras–style celebrations, lasting from January 31 to March 9 in 2025. The biggest events include the Carnival Queen Election, a sparkling, elaborate-couture costume contest, and the Burial of the Sardine, a quirky but serious funeral procession on Ash Wednesday, when a huge fish is paraded through town and ceremonially buried.
Speaking of fish, you’d be remiss to not dine well and swim often here. Try Etéreo by Pedro Nel, a Michelin-recognized restaurant that fuses Canary-sourced produce with cutting edge techniques. At La Baranda on the north coast, tapas are eaten on velvet sofas, with views of Mount Tiende.
During Carnival, Tenerife can feel overwhelming, especially in the capital of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, where most of the large gatherings take place. There are dozens of beaches, 15 of which have the coveted Blue Flag award for environmental protection and cleanliness. Trek to the remote ones, like Playa de Benijo, for a little pause from the crowds. It’s famous for unspoiled sand, dark rock karsts, and being clothing optional. Those wanting peace and quiet in hotels might opt for staying in low-key areas like Puerto de la Cruz or Adeje, both an hour’s drive from the capital.
