Mardi Gras is the final day of Carnival ; it thus falls on the day before the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras is French for "Fat Tuesday", reflecting the practice of the last night of consuming rich, fatty foods in preparation for the Christian fasting season of Lent, during which the consumption of such foods is avoided.
Celebrations in New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Mardi Gras in Dakar, Senegal
Mardi Gras in Marseille, France
Mardi Gras in Binche, Belgium
Shrove Tuesday is the final day of Shrovetide, marking the end of pre-Lent. Lent begins the following day with Ash Wednesday. Shrove Tuesday is observed in many Christian countries through participating in confession; the ritual burning of the previous year's Holy Week palms; finalizing one's Lenten sacrifice; as well as eating pancakes and other sweets.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Fight Between Carnival and Lent (detail), 1559
Russian artist Boris Kustodiev's Maslenitsa (1916)
Shrove Tuesday, Bear guiding [pl] in Poland (1950)
On Shrove Tuesday, many Christians confess their sins, in preparation for Lent; depicted is an Evangelical Lutheran confessional in Luther Church (Helsinki, Finland)