A look at Louisiana's Mardi Gras festivities through the years

Thursday, Feb 27, 2025 12:15 PM

FILE - The captain rides on a float with moving eyes and mouth as the Krewe of Mid-City parades on the Uptown route in New Orleans, Feb. 11, 2024. (Sophia Germer/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP, File)

After a weekslong pre-Lenten bash — complete with elaborate parades that meander through New Orleans, shimmery beads tossed from floats, streets lined with costumed revelers, lavish balls and seafood boils — Louisiana's 2025 Carnival Season is approaching its grand conclusion.

Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, which takes place March 4, marks the party’s climax and the end of Carnival Season on the Gulf Coast. The conclusion falls the day before Ash Wednesday and is seen as a final day of feasting and revelry before the solemnity of Lent.

Each year, along with Louisiana residents, more than a million visitors travel to New Orleans to partake in the city's world-famous Carnival celebrations.

The bash includes feasting, drinking and a plethora of parades. Many spend their time along parade routes, with their hands raised in the air to catch “throws” — trinkets tossed to spectators by float riders and walking members of carnival clubs known as krewes.

While throws include plastic beads, candy, stuffed animals, cups and toys, there are also the more coveted items such as painted coconuts, hand-decorated shoes and bedazzled toilet plungers.

The annual jollification is not limited to the Big Easy. Similar celebrations are held across Louisiana and along the Gulf Coast. Mobile, Alabama, lays claim to the nation’s oldest Mardi Gras celebration. And other lavish Carnival celebrations in Brazil and Europe are world-renowned.

FILE - The Krewe of Zulu takes the turn onto Canal Street from St. Charles Avenue on Mardi Gras, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015, in New Orleans. (Matthew Hinton/The Advocate via AP, File)

FILE - Mardi Gras revelers greet a float from the Zulu parade at the corner of St. Charles and Canal Streets in New Orleans, La., on Mardi Gras day Tuesday, Feb. 11, 1997. (AP Photo/Andrew J. Cohoon, File)

FILE - Zulu King Andrew "Pete" Sanchez, Jr., the 100th Zulu King, takes the turn onto Canal Street from St. Charles Avenue on Mardi Gras, Feb. 17, 2015, in New Orleans. (Matthew Hinton/The Advocate via AP File)

FILE - The French Quarter Madams march through the French Quarter ahead of Fat Tuesday in New Orleans, Friday, Feb. 9, 2024. (Sophia Germer/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP, File)

FILE - Endymion rolls in New Orleans, Saturday, Feb. 10, 2024, to the theme, "Silents are Golden." (Scott Threlkeld/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP, File)

FILE - Zulu rolls down St. Charles Avenue toward Canal Street in the New Orleans CBD Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2016. .(David Grunfeld/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP, File )

FILE - The Krewe of Proteus rolls on the Uptown route with the theme "Divine Tricksters" in New Orleans on Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. (Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP, File)

FILE - The Krewe of Hermes parade makes its way along the Uptown route with the theme "The Storyville Chronicles" in New Orleans, Feb. 9, 2024. (Brett Duke/The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate via AP)

FILE - Beads are flying during a Mardi Gras parade in Metarie, La., Wednesday Feb. 22, 2006. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - The Krewe du Belge plays during the Society of Saint Anne parade through Bywater and Marigny neighborhoods on Mardi Gras Day in New Orleans, Feb. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton, File)

CORRECTS ID BILLY HORSCHEL, NOT SEPP STRAKA OF AUSTRIA - Billy Horschel tees off on the 16th hole during the first round of the Cognizant Classic golf tournament, Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)TO

FILE - Revelers throw beads from balconies in the rain during Mardi Gras festivities in the French Quarter in New Orleans, March 4, 2014. AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File)

FILE - Lee Chance laughs as he shows off his collection of beads that he caught during the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club parade in New Orleans on Mardi Gras Day, March 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)