The scent of fresh fruit and chocolate, upbeat music and masks covered in glitter is in the French classes across the school that celebrate the holiday Mardi Gras, translated to Fat Tuesday. Although Fat Tuesday started as a Catholic holiday, the trend of paczkis and sacrificing an item for a period of time have been picked up from people all over America. Fat Tuesday can be found on any Tuesday between Feb. 3 and March 9, the day before Ash Wednesday.

In the French culture, Mardi Gras is a day to celebrate with masks, beads, and parades. Students studying French had a party to make masks, crepes and danced to the song from early Mardi Gras Indians, Iko Iko. Beads are a significant token of the day’s events. The beads colors, purple, green and gold, have a special meaning to the people wearing them. Purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power.

In American culture little to none of these traditions are found. Colors have no value to the people who typically eat a paczki. The celebration in the French classes gave students a different view on the French customs.

Photo by Tess DeGayner