When Is Mardi Gras 2027? Date, History, and How Fat Tuesday Is Calculated

Mardi Gras 2026 has already come and gone (it fell on Tuesday, February 17). The next Fat Tuesday is Tuesday, February 9, 2027. The date jumps around the calendar from year to year because Mardi Gras is tied to Easter, and Easter is set by the Moon. The rule is simpler than it sounds: Mardi Gras is always the Tuesday right before Ash Wednesday, which is exactly 47 days before Easter Sunday.

When Is Mardi Gras 2027?

Mardi Gras 2027 falls on Tuesday, February 9, 2027. Ash Wednesday follows the next day, February 10, kicking off the 40-day Lenten season that ends with Easter Sunday on March 28, 2027.

Carnival season, the longer celebration that culminates on Mardi Gras, traditionally begins on January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany (also called Twelfth Night or Three Kings Day). In New Orleans, that means the 2027 Carnival season runs roughly five weeks, from January 6 through February 9. King cakes appear in bakeries on day one and disappear at midnight on Fat Tuesday.

Mardi Gras Dates for the Next Five Years

Because Mardi Gras is tied to a moveable feast, the date can land anywhere between early February and early March. Here is when Fat Tuesday falls through 2031.

Year	Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday)	Ash Wednesday	Easter Sunday
2027	Tuesday, February 9	Wednesday, February 10	Sunday, March 28
2028	Tuesday, February 29 (leap day)	Wednesday, March 1	Sunday, April 16
2029	Tuesday, February 13	Wednesday, February 14 (Valentine’s Day)	Sunday, April 1
2030	Tuesday, March 5	Wednesday, March 6	Sunday, April 21
2031	Tuesday, February 25	Wednesday, February 26	Sunday, April 13

Two oddities stand out. Mardi Gras 2028 falls on February 29, a leap day. The last leap-year Fat Tuesday was 1972; the next after 2028 is 2056. And in 2029, Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day land on the same date, which has happened only a handful of times in the past century.

What Is Mardi Gras?

“Mardi Gras” is French for “Fat Tuesday.” The name refers to the centuries-old practice of using up the last of the household’s rich foods, meat, butter, eggs, sugar, before the start of Lent, the 40-day Christian period of fasting and reflection that precedes Easter. English-speaking Christian traditions call the same day Shrove Tuesday, from the old verb “to shrive,” meaning to confess one’s sins.

In practical terms, Mardi Gras is the last day of feasting. Ash Wednesday, the next morning, is the first day of fasting. The contrast is the whole point. The day is meant to be loud, indulgent, and a little excessive, because tomorrow is meant to be quiet.

The wider celebration that surrounds Fat Tuesday is called Carnival, from the Latin carne levare, “to remove meat.” Carnival season starts on Twelfth Night (January 6) and runs until midnight on Mardi Gras itself, when, in New Orleans, mounted police famously clear Bourbon Street to mark the start of Lent.

How the Mardi Gras Date Is Decided

Mardi Gras has no fixed date of its own. It is calculated backward from Easter, which is itself set by the Moon. The full sequence:

• Find Easter Sunday, the first Sunday after the first full Moon on or after the spring equinox. (Our When Is Easter page walks through the Paschal Moon rule in detail.)
• Count back 46 days to Ash Wednesday. The 46 days include six Sundays, which are not counted as fast days, leaving the traditional 40 days of Lent.
• Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday, 47 days before Easter.

That is why Mardi Gras can fall anywhere from February 3 (the earliest possible date) to March 9 (the latest). Like Passover, Ramadan, and Chinese New Year, it is a holiday whose timing depends on the sky rather than the printed calendar. The U.S. Naval Observatory’s reference on Easter dates covers the underlying math for anyone who wants the deep version.

The History of Mardi Gras

The roots of Mardi Gras reach back to medieval Europe, where Catholic communities developed the custom of holding feasts and revels on the eve of the Lenten fast. By the late Middle Ages, pre-Lent celebrations were a fixture of the calendar in France, Italy, Spain, and the German Catholic states.

Mardi Gras Arrives in North America

French explorers carried the tradition across the Atlantic. On March 3, 1699, the French-Canadian explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and his crew came ashore near the mouth of the Mississippi River on the eve of Fat Tuesday. They named the spot Point du Mardi Gras, marking what is often cited as the first observance of the holiday on what would become American soil. The Library of Congress notes the same date in its Today in History entry.

The city of Mobile, Alabama, founded by d’Iberville’s brother Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, claims the oldest organized American Mardi Gras, dating its first masked celebration to 1703. Mobile’s case rests on continuity: parades, masking societies, and the famous MoonPie throws have been part of the city’s late-winter calendar for more than three centuries.

New Orleans and the Krewes

New Orleans, founded in 1718, grew into the celebration most Americans picture when they hear “Mardi Gras.” The city’s first recorded parade rolled in 1837. The first formal carnival organization, the Mistick Krewe of Comus, staged its torchlit procession in 1857 and set the model that every later krewe would follow: a secret membership, a theme, costumed riders, and floats built around an annual tableau.

The Krewe of Rex joined in 1872, organized in part to welcome a visiting Russian Grand Duke, and gave the holiday two of its lasting trademarks: an official king (Rex, the “King of Carnival”) and the now-familiar color scheme of purple, green, and gold. The Krewe of Zulu, the city’s most prominent historically Black krewe, paraded for the first time in 1909 and remains famous for its hand-decorated coconut throws. Modern super-krewes such as Bacchus (1968), Endymion (1967), and Orpheus (1993) operate at a scale Comus would not have recognized.

Mardi Gras and Carnival Around the World

Carnival, in one form or another, is celebrated on every inhabited continent. Most of these festivals share a common skeleton: the last week or two before Lent, a city stops what it is normally doing and dances in the street. The specifics, costumes, music, food, are local.

City / Country	Local Name	What Makes It Distinctive
New Orleans, Louisiana	Mardi Gras	Krewes, masked balls, parades, throws (beads, doubloons, Zulu coconuts), king cake.
Mobile, Alabama	Mardi Gras	The oldest organized American celebration (1703), known for MoonPie throws.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Carnaval	Samba schools, the Sambadrome parade competition, neighborhood blocos drawing millions.
Venice, Italy	Carnevale di Venezia	Elaborate hand-painted masks, period costume, and the Volo dell’Angelo in St. Mark’s Square.
Trinidad and Tobago	Carnival	Soca and calypso music, J’ouvert street party, mas (masquerade) bands.
Cologne, Germany	Karneval / Fastelovend	Rosenmontag (Rose Monday) parade, the cry “Kolle Alaaf,” and a season that opens at 11:11 a.m. on November 11.
Nice, France	Carnaval de Nice	Two weeks of flower-throwing parades and giant papier-mache “Big Heads.”
Quebec City, Canada	Carnaval de Quebec	A winter carnival rather than a pre-Lent one, with the snowman mascot Bonhomme.
Sydney, Australia	Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras	An LGBTQ+ pride festival held in late February or early March, with a major parade down Oxford Street.

Mardi Gras Traditions and Symbols

Purple, Green, and Gold

The official Mardi Gras colors were chosen by the Krewe of Rex for the 1872 parade and assigned meaning at the krewe’s 1892 ball:

• Purple for justice
• Green for faith
• Gold for power

The combination has since become the visual shorthand for the entire holiday, woven into beads, king cakes, banners, and house decorations from Mobile to Galveston.

King Cake

The king cake is a ring-shaped braided pastry, often filled with cinnamon or cream cheese and frosted in alternating bands of purple, green, and gold sugar. Bakers hide a small plastic baby (or, in older traditions, a bean or pecan) inside the cake. Whoever finds the baby in their slice is named king or queen for the evening and is on the hook for bringing the next king cake, or hosting the next party. The cake honors the Three Kings of the Epiphany story, which is why the tradition begins on January 6.

Throws, Parades, and Krewes

A New Orleans parade is a slow-moving river of floats, marching bands, and dance teams, with riders showering the crowd in throws: strings of beads, aluminum doubloons stamped with the year’s parade theme, plush toys, decorated cups, and the famous Zulu coconuts. In Mobile, MoonPies have been the signature throw since the 1950s; the city’s krewes hand out an estimated three million of them every Mardi Gras season.

The whole apparatus is run by krewes, member-supported social clubs that fund their own floats, costumes, and throws. New Orleans alone has more than seventy active krewes today, ranging from the historic super-krewes to small walking groups and satirical sub-krewes like the Krewe du Vieux and the Krewe of ‘tit Rex.

Mardi Gras Foods

The food side of Mardi Gras grew out of a simple necessity: empty the pantry of meat, fat, and dairy before Lent began. Louisiana Creole and Cajun cooking pushed that idea about as far as it could go.

• King cake. The signature pastry. Sweet, braided, frosted in Carnival colors, with the hidden plastic baby.
• Beignets. Square French-style yeast doughnuts buried in powdered sugar. A New Orleans cafe staple year-round, but especially at Carnival.
• Gumbo. A slow-cooked stew built on a dark roux, with chicken and andouille sausage, seafood, or both.
• Jambalaya. A one-pot rice dish with meat, vegetables, and Cajun spice; the Louisiana cousin of paella.
• Etouffee. Shellfish, usually crawfish or shrimp, smothered in a buttery roux-based sauce and served over rice.
• Po’boy sandwiches. Crisp French-bread sandwiches stuffed with fried shrimp, oysters, roast beef, or hot sausage.
• Red beans and rice. Traditionally a Monday dish, but a Mardi Gras staple all season long.

How to Celebrate Mardi Gras

You do not have to fly to Louisiana to mark Fat Tuesday. A few ways to bring Carnival home:

• Buy or bake a king cake. Local bakeries ship them nationwide in January and February; most home bakers can pull off a respectable version with brioche dough and a jar of colored sugar.
• Cook one big Louisiana dish. Gumbo, jambalaya, or red beans and rice will feed a crowd and use up odds and ends from the freezer.
• Decorate in purple, green, and gold. Beads, masks, and table runners are cheap and instantly Carnival.
• Throw a Pancake Tuesday supper. In Britain, Ireland, and parts of Canada, Shrove Tuesday is Pancake Day, the same idea (use up the eggs and butter) in a quieter, suppertime form.
• Watch a parade livestream. Most of the major New Orleans krewes stream the Rex and Zulu parades on Fat Tuesday morning.
• Plan ahead for Lent. If your tradition observes Ash Wednesday, the day after Mardi Gras is a good time to talk over what (if anything) the household is giving up.

Related Moveable Feasts on Our Calendar

• When Is Easter, the holiday that sets Mardi Gras’s date in the first place.
• When Is Passover, another moveable feast on a lunisolar calendar.
• A full list of moveable holidays and how they are calculated.
• The Farmers’ Almanac holidays hub for fixed and moveable observances year-round.

Frequently Asked Questions

When is Mardi Gras 2027?

Mardi Gras 2027 is Tuesday, February 9, 2027. Ash Wednesday follows on February 10, and Easter Sunday is March 28.

Why does Mardi Gras change date every year?

Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday, which is 46 days before Easter Sunday. Easter is a moveable feast set by the first full Moon on or after the spring equinox, so every holiday tied to it (including Mardi Gras) shifts each year.

What is the king cake baby?

A small plastic figurine baked into a king cake. Whoever finds the baby in their slice is “king” or “queen” for the evening and is traditionally expected to host the next king cake party or bring the cake to the next gathering. The baby is said to represent the Christ child of the Epiphany story.

Why are the Mardi Gras colors purple, green, and gold?

The Krewe of Rex chose the three colors for the 1872 parade in New Orleans. At the krewe’s 1892 ball, the colors were officially assigned meanings: purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power.

Is Mardi Gras a federal holiday?

No. Mardi Gras is not a federal holiday in the United States. It is, however, an official state holiday in Louisiana, where most state offices, schools, and many businesses close for Fat Tuesday. Mobile, Alabama, and parts of the Mississippi Gulf Coast also observe local Mardi Gras holidays.

What is the difference between Mardi Gras and Carnival?

Carnival is the whole season of pre-Lenten celebration, which traditionally begins on January 6 (the Feast of the Epiphany) and runs until midnight on Fat Tuesday. Mardi Gras itself is the last day of Carnival, the Tuesday immediately before Ash Wednesday.

When was the first Mardi Gras in America?

French explorer Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville observed Mardi Gras on March 3, 1699 at a campsite near the mouth of the Mississippi River that he named Point du Mardi Gras. Mobile, Alabama, claims the oldest organized American Mardi Gras celebration, dating its first parade to 1703. New Orleans held its first recorded parade in 1837.

What is the earliest and latest Mardi Gras can be?

The earliest possible Mardi Gras date is February 3; the latest is March 9. Both ends of the range are rare. Most years Fat Tuesday falls somewhere in mid-February.

Join the Discussion

How does your household mark Fat Tuesday? King cake from a favorite bakery, gumbo on the stove, pancakes in the British style, a backyard parade with the grandkids? Tell us in the comments, and tell us what you would like added to this page next year.