New Orleans may be synonymous with Mardi Gras in the U.S., but local krewes are preparing to let the good times roll all along the Gulf Coast. With amazing parades, glittering balls, Cajun cooking, costumed revelers, beach parties and lots of special events, Pensacola, Florida puts on the Florida Panhandle’s biggest and most family-friendly Mardi Gras celebration.
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From Twelfth Night until the final hours of Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras marks the end of the Christmas season on the Christian calendar and the beginning of Lent, the period of prayer and fasting that precedes Easter. First celebrated in the U.S. in 1699 by French explorers near the future site of New Orleans, the tradition quickly spread up the Gulf Coast to Mobile, Alabama during the early 1700s and along the Florida Gulf Coast to Pensacola over the next century. While you’ll find adult-only revelry in Pensacola, what distinguishes Mardi Gras celebrations along Florida’s Gulf Coast from the New Orleans original is the emphasis on family fun.
Pensacola kicked off its month-long Carnival season celebration January 6 with a massive street party. Culminating in a merry Fat Tuesday celebration for revelers of all ages on February 12, weekly events are planned to keep the party going. Among the most popular Pensacola Mardi Gras events are the boat parade on January 19, a kid and kritter pet parade on February 2, an illuminated parade on February 8, the downtown Grand Parade on February 9 and much more.
Booking beautiful Destin beach vacation rentals or lovely Beaches of South Walton beachfront rentals on iTrip.net allow Pensacola vacationers to indulge in all the fun and revelry of Mardi Gras while also enjoying a relaxing beach vacation on Florida’s legendary Gulf Coast.
