Kids Celebrate Mardi Gras at Smithsonian American Art Museum (photos)
By • March 6, 2014 0 1680
The Big Easy’s Mardi Gras is unlike any festival in the world, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art brought the New Orleans’s party to the District on March 1 with costumes, crafts, and zydeco music from Baltimore’s the Crawdaddies.
The French words “Mardi Gras” mean “Fat Tuesday” in English and invoke the Carnival Season, beginning on or after the Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday. The words are descriptive of the practice of eating fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which begins on Ash Wednesday. Popular practices include wearing masks and costumes, dancing and parades. This year’s Mardi Gras falls on March 4. Laissez les bons temps rouler.
View our Mardi Gras images from Family Day by clicking on the photo icons below.
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- The Mardi Gras Jester entertains in Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian American Art Museum
