Mardi Gras: Making Merry Around the World

By Doris Gallan –

The grand-daddy of all Mardi Gras celebrations takes place in Rio de Janeiro and brings millions of tourists to Brazil each year. But if you’re not ready for the big one, there are smaller carnivals in the cities of Salvador, Belem, and Port Seguro.

Mexican carnivals are concentrated in the Yucatan Peninsula with fiestas in Veracruz, Conzumel and Merida featuring parades, street dancing, parties and balls. The Caribbean flavor adds a dimension to the celebrations in these cities that isn’t found in the Mazatlan carnival on the Pacific coast.

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Heading north, French Canada’s Carnaval de Québec brings 750,000 visitors each year to visit the ice palace, watch winter canoe races, view intricate snow sculptures, and enjoy the night parades. Travelers must plan in advance: it launches the world carnival season and starts in January.

Travelers to France now have the choice of celebrating in Paris or Nice as the capital restarted its carnival in 1997 after a hiatus of 45 years. The festivities in Nice attract about a million visitors, were begun in 1294, and are believed to be the original carnival celebrations.

Carnevale brings 30,000 visitors a day to Venice to watch parades and attend balls masqueraded in elaborate costumes. In Ivrea, townspeople hold the Battle of the Oranges—a costly activity with the fruit brought as it doesn’t grow in the mountainous region. Lungro, the home of a large Albanian refugee community, brings out its traditional costumes, food and wine to celebrate through a unique blend of cultures.

With so many carnivals to choose from you could celebrate Mardi Gras in a different country every year.

Doris Gallan is the author of The Boomers’ Guide to Going Abroad to Travel ï Live ï Giveï Learn and a travel coach. She has been to all seven continents and 50+ countries. You can read about her travels and get tips at www.BabyBoomersTraveling.com.

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Mardi Gras: Making Merry Around the World
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