Mardi Gras in New Orleans is one of the great festivals of the world — a week of parades, masked balls, street parties and extraordinary food culture building to Fat Tuesday, the final day before Lent, when the entire city becomes one enormous celebration. The French Quarter is at the heart of it, but Mardi Gras belongs to every neighbourhood of this singular American city.
Fat Tuesday is the climax but the whole week is the experience. Hotels book out a year ahead. The French Quarter is the center but parades happen city wide.