Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” (in ethnic English tradition, Shrove Tuesday), referring to the practice of the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the ritual fasting of the Lenten season, which starts on Ash Wednesday (March 9).
This year there is a Flash Flood Watch with showers and thunderstorms predicted to drop 2 to 3 inches of rain, and possibly 6 inches of rain across the New Orleans area.
The Carnaval de Ponce (Ponce Carnival) coincides with Mardi Gras, starting on the Wednesday before Ash Wednesday. The Carnaval de Ponce is an annual celebration held in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The celebration lasts one week and it ends on the day before Ash Wednesday. Thus it is generally held in February and sometimes in March. It is one of the oldest carnivals of the Western Hemisphere, dating back to 1858. Some authorities, such as the Smithsonian Institution, believe the Ponce Carnaval can be traced to as far back as 250 years ago. The Carnaval coincides with the Mardi Gras of New Orleans, the Carnival of Venice, and Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival. The estimated attendance is 100,000 people.