Easter is a Christian holiday that celebrates Jesus rising from the dead, three days after he was executed by the Roman authorities.
It is always held on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25.
A 46-day (40 fasting days and 6 Sundays) period leading up to Easter Sunday is called Lent.
Lent always begins on a Wednesday, known as the Ash Wednesday, and this year Ash Wednesday falls on 17th February.
Lent is a period of reflection & preparation of Easter through prayer; it involves fasting and surrendering things such as favorite foods, smoking, & alcohol, etc.
Traditionally, people also avoid eating meat during Lent.
On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, people indulge and consume all kinds of food that are forbidden while fasting during Lent.
This Tuesday – the one before Ash Wednesday – is called Mardi Gras, as it means “Fat Tuesday” in French.
It is a festival of gluttony (excessive eating) as people celebrate and eat to ‘fatten up’ before the season of Lent, a period of sacrifice.
In many areas, Mardi Gras has evolved into a week-long festival.
It is best known as the New Orleans (US) celebration of carnival, as the first Mardi Gras was organized in New Orleans by French colonists in 1703.
In 1978, some members of the LGBTQ community in Australia decided to march in protest against the criminalization of homosexuality in Australia.
Most of the LGBTQ protests in the last decade or so had ended up in violence, so this group of Australians wanted this march to be a positive celebration.
This gave birth to Gay Mardi Gras (moving street party), also known as Sydney Mardi Gras.
2021’s Sydney Mardi Gras Festival will start on Friday 19 February and will run through until Sunday 7 March.
