Happy Mardi Gras

The mellow vibe on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras.

Today is Fat Tuesday, which means that Mardi Gras celebrations will be kicking off everywhere around the world today. From Quebec City, to Rio de Janeiro, to the islands of the Caribbean, Carnival season can mean a variety of different things, but what it always means is a week or two of partying. But if you’re looking for the ultimate happy Mardi Gras, then New Orleans is definitely the place to go.

That city, from all reports, is still going nuts after winning its first NFL Super Bowl last week. And now that their biggest party-excuse of the year is upon us, things are just going to get crazier.

So what does Mardi Gras in New Orleans actually entail? The madness in the French Quarter, and Bourbon Street especially, gets most of the press. But it’s really all about the parades. The city, and rest of Louisiana, will host dozens of different parades, as krewes wheel out the costumes and floats they’ve been working on for months, and tens or hundreds of thousands of tourists and locals line the major parade routes through the city.

You’re too late to get there for Fat Tuesday, the traditional start of Mardi Gras, for this year, but things only heat up over the next week and a half. And if you do get a chance to head down to New Orleans during the festival, you won’t regret it. And you probably won’t remember it either.