Big Band Kicks off Mardi Gras Wimberley-style
The international celebration of Mardi Gras or Carnival has deep historical roots. Dating from medieval Catholic celebrations of the Epiphany season, participants indulged in meat and drink before the 40 days of Lenten fasting that begins on Ash Wednesday. The day before that, Shrove Tuesday or “Fat Tuesday,” as the last day before Lent, saw the most intense enjoyment of food, drink, and conviviality. Some say that Mardi Gras’s roots may stretch back into pagan celebrations of Saturnalia and Lupercalia, Roman festivals that celebrated eating, drinking, and partying.
Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday in French) arrived in North America in 1699 when French explorer Pierre Lemoine D’Iberville camped about 60 miles downriver from the present location of New Orleans on Fat Tuesday. Recognizing the day, he called the camp Pointe de Mardi Gras and had a party, of course. Surprisingly, New Orleans was not the first American city to celebrate Mardi Gras, but Mobile, Alabama, who still boasts to having the oldest celebration in the nation.
However, once New Orleans got going with Mardi Gras in 1718, its celebrations set the precedents for many of the traditions we follow today. Under the Spanish rule and later the early US government, many of New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations were suppressed. But by 1837, the celebrations of Fat Tuesday in “the Big Easy” of New Orleans were accepted and even encouraged.
In present day New Orleans, the street parades, parties, special festivities, and masked balls start in mid-January, lasting until the end of Epiphany and the arrival Mardi Gras Day, a public holiday there. Beads, doubloons, masks, costumes, and live street bands contribute to the gaiety.
Wimberley Valley Big Band, your local nonprofit big band, kicks off the Mardi Gras celebrations in town on Friday night, February 7, from 7 until 9:30 pm with a Mardi Gras Dance/Celebration at the Wimberley Community Center. Live Big Band music featuring the timeless tunes of the Big Band era will mingle with modern tunes made famous in the last twenty years, enticing listeners and dancers alike to relax and enjoy. In addition, a traditional Mardi Gras promenade, also known as a second line, will occur a few times during the evening to the fun music of N’Awlins’.
Grab your dancing shoes, pull out your Mardi Gras mask and costume if you wish, or just come Wimberley-style, but come have some fun.
Tickets are a donation to the Band and include party favors and mixers for your BYOB. Tickets are available online at wimberleyvalleybigband.org or in town at the Wimberley Chamber of Commerce. A few tickets will be available at the door.
Laissez les bonnes temps roulez, Wimberley!