Celebrations

When is Mardi Gras this year? How the date for "Fat Tuesday" is determined

The celebration in New Orleans will take place a little later than usual in 2025. We take a look at why the date changes each year.

ERIK S. LESSER

Joseph McMahon

Born in Chicago, Joe played varsity football and baseball in Bowling Green, Ohio for BGHS and later played lacrosse at BGSU. A year abroad in Spain changed everything. As destiny would have it he ended up living in Zaragoza, running his own business, teaching Journalism at a private university then working as a SEO journalist for Diario AS.

Update: Feb 26th, 2025 11:04 EST

Mardi Gras celebrations are held every year around the world, with the most famous one being in New Orleans. The festivities take place during the two weeks leading up to “Shrove Tuesday,” which marks the end of the celebrations.

The date of this festival varies each year, depending on the date of Easter, and it marks the beginning of the Christian observance of Lent. Lent is a 40-day period during which Christians give up a chosen luxury and fast, starting at midnight on Ash Wednesday, the day after Shrove Tuesday. To avoid temptation before the solemn remembrance of Jesus Christ’s 40-day fast and temptation by Satan in the desert, people empty their cupboards of fatty foods and indulge in feasting and revelry.

Mardi Gras, New Orleans, 1907 pic.twitter.com/ripWBJHr09
— History Defined (@historydefined) February 13, 2025

When is Mardi Gras in 2025?

This year the party in New Orleans falls on March 4. Celebrations and events will be announced shortly and will take place before and after March 4 in The Big Easy.

How the date for Mardi Gras is determined

Mardi Gras is determined by the date of Easter each year, which is determined by the first full moon following the spring equinox. Easter can fall in either March or April, depending on the lunar cycle. As Shrove Tuesday is the day before Ash Wednesday, and Ash Wednesday falls 46 days before Easter, meaning that Mardi Gras can fall in either February or March. In 2025 Easter Sunday falls on April 20.

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