Carnival is all over the South

It's Mardi Gras season once again, and while New Orleans is the American epicenter of this festive pre-Lenten celebration, there are plenty of other options for some fantastically fun Fat Tuesday revelry.

While different locales bring their own unique flavor to the merrymaking, there are some elements that are certain to be found wherever you join the party. You will definitely see people wearing all kinds of colorful masks and costumes (traditional colors are purple, gold and green) and the main event of all Mardi Gras celebrations is a gala parade (usually more than one), featuring floats, musicians and costumed marchers. Corollary events might include dances, fancy balls, and cook-offs. Ready for some partying? Well then, here are several places not named New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras.

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Mobile, Ala.

Home to the first Mardi Gras in the United States, the "bonne temps" have been rolling in this Gulf Coast city since 1703. This rich history is celebrated with dozens of parades and special events over a two-week period leading up to Fat Tuesday (Feb. 28). Tour the Mobile Carnival Museum for a look at the gowns, crowns, scepters and robes of the city's Mardi Gras kings and queens.

(251) 208-2000, mobile.org

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Lake Charles, La.

Just about any Louisiana community worth its gumbo has some sort of Fat Tuesday celebration, but the state's second largest Mardi Gras fete holds forth in Lake Charles -- officially known as Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana. Festivities kicked off Jan. 6 with the Twelfth Night celebration and continue through Fat Tuesday. Nearly 150,000 celebrants come together for the parades, music and food. It's a family-friendly affair with an alcohol- and tobacco-free zone along parade routes. The city's Imperial Calcasieu Museum celebrates Mardi Gras year-round, with the world's largest display of Mardi Gras costumes and other regalia.

(800) 456-7952, swlamardigras.com

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Lafayette, La.

Local promoters bill it as the "greatest free party on earth," but this Cajun- and Creole-flavored Carnival celebration isn't nearly as raucous, risque or crowded as New Orleans. Here in Acadiana, residents traditionally celebrated Carnival with the unique "Courir de Mardi Gras," or Mardi Gras Run, where masked men on horseback would roam the countryside singing songs, dancing and begging for ingredients to make a gumbo. Homeowners would throw chickens to the begging maskers who would attempt to catch the birds for gumbo meat. This tradition is restaged each year along with numerous parades leading up to Fat Tuesday's big Mardi Gras Show at Clark Field Stadium.

(800) 346-1958, lafayettetravel.com/mardi-gras

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Biloxi, Miss.

N'awlins and other Louisiana Mardi Gras celebrations have nothing on their Mississippi neighbors to the east -- where from Pascagoula to Bay St. Louis, cities and towns along U.S. 90 throw Fat Tuesday celebrations that rank among the most festive anywhere. Biloxi, home to the Gulf Coast Carnival Association, is the center of festivities along the coast, and its King d'Iberville and Queen Ixolib serve as official royalty. The city hosts 24 parades and parties aplenty. If you go, take time to visit Biloxi's Mardi Gras Museum, which traces the 300-year history of Mardi Gras on the Gulf Coast.

(228) 432-8806, gulfcoastcarnivalassociation.com

Travel on 02/12/2017

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