What date is Fat Tuesday? What is the meaning and why do Catholics celebrate? What we know from paczkis and king cakes to Holy Week.

From high-energy parades to colorful beads and masks, there are dozens of traditions involved in Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday. The holiday which is less than a week away, is just ahead of the start of the Lenten season.

What date is Fat Tuesday? What is the meaning and why do we celebrate? Here's what we know from paczkis to Holy Week.

Interested in venturing out of Louisiana for Mardi Gras? Some of the biggest parades of the season are happening on Fat Tuesday this year, plus a few beloved local celebrations in Bay St. Louis.

Mardi Gras, French for “Fat Tuesday,” is New Orleans’ largest annual celebration and marks the end of the pre-Lenten season. While Portland doesn’t shut down for Mardi Gras parades and festivities like New Orleans does, there are a few ways to celebrate in the Rose City:

Carnival Season typically starts after Epiphany on Jan. 6 and culminates on Ash Wednesday, which falls on March 5 this year.

Previewing 30 New Orleans and Jefferson Parish parades with themes, royalty, special guests, throws, maps and more.

March 4 is a many-faceted celebration for Lidia Trempe, owner of Rudy’s Strudel & Bakery in Parma. First, it’s Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday, a day that practically requires Clevelanders to eat the ethnic pastry known as paczki.

W hether or not you plan on observing the Christian season of Lent, celebrating Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) is a great excuse to chow down on some desserts. In the past, Lent mean