Traditionally meat was banished from the diet during Lent. As was sugar, ingredients containing fat, eggs and dairy products. Hence Shrove Tuesday ( Mardi Gras = Fat Tuesday) was the last opportunity to indulge in forbidden foods until the end of Lent.
Mardi Gras / Shrove Tuesday dates
- Tuesday 13 February 2024
- Tuesday 4 March 2025
- Tuesday 17 February 2026
Mardi Gras or Shrove Tuesday is the last day before the beginning of Lent , 41 days + 6 Sundays, i.e. 47 days before Easter, between 3 February and 9 March. Similarly the Carnaval was a chance to ignore rules and celebrate with gay abandon before Lent.
Nowadays there is less observance of the traditions and dates – with Carnaval often seen as a way of brightening the miserable winter days. Current dates:
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