A day that is all about decadence, drinking and showing a little skin to get some beads may sound to you like a typical Friday night (save the beads part), but once a year people all over the world decide to let their hair down and go all out in one last hurrah before the season of Lent begins.

Literally translated, Mardi Gras means “Fat Tuesday” and while it is always celebrated on the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, the date can fall anywhere between February 3 and March 9 depending on the Lunar calendar (used by the Catholic Church to determine the date of Easter Sunday). Mardi Gras is always 47 days before Easter.

Better known as Carnival, the Mardi Gras season actually begins 12 days after Christmas, and is commonly referred to as Epiphany, Twelfth Night or Kings Day. It is the day the gift-bearing Magi visited the baby Jesus, and is celebrated with its own unique rituals. Fat Tuesday is the end all, be all of the celebration.

Since San Diego’s GLBT community is prepared to celebrate Carnival in style, your friendly Gay & Lesbian Times staff is here to give you the goods on the holiday itself, its history and how it’s been gayed up over the years.

Like all truly fabulous holidays (Halloween, Christmas and, yes, even Easter, with those fantastic bonnets and decorative gift baskets) Mardi Gras was another attempt to coax the Pagans into celebrating Christian holidays, and what better way to do it than with parties, booze and debauchery.

There are conflicting reports of the exact origin of Mardi Gras, but traces of Mardi Gras traditions date as far back as the middle of the second century. During this time in Rome, a season similar to the Lenten period called the Fast of 40 Days was observed, and was preceded by days of feasting and revelry. The Romans donned masks, dressed in costume and generally enjoyed all the pleasures of life to the fullest.

In mid-February they celebrated the Lupercalia, a circus-like festival celebrated before the kalends of March (February 15). Though it was not associated with the temple of any specific god, the Romans viewed the Lupercalia as a purification and fertility rite. The ritual involved the sacrifice of goats and a dog by priests called luperci, who smeared the foreheads of two noble young men with the blood of the sacrifice, and then wiped it off. At this point, the young men were required to laugh. Then the luperci, clothed in loincloths, ran about the area lashing everyone with strips of skin from the goats, particularly women, because it was believed the ritual promoted fertility and easy childbirth. Much drinking and carousing followed the ceremony.

When Rome embraced Christianity, the early church fathers decided it was better to incorporate certain aspects of pagan rituals into the new faith rather than attempt to abolish them altogether. Carnival became a period of abandon and merriment that preceded the penance of Lent, thus giving a Christian interpretation to the ancient custom and an opportunity for people to get the celebrating out of their system. Loosely translated, the word carnival means “farewell to flesh” from the Latin words carnis (flesh) and vale (farewell).

Mardi Gras has been celebrated in Paris since the Middle Ages, when it was a major holiday. The festival came to America in 1699 with the French explorer Iberville, who sailed into the Gulf of Mexico and launched an expedition up the Mississippi River. On March 3, the day Mardi Gras was being celebrated in France, Iberville set up a camp on the west bank of the river about 60 miles south of where New Orleans is today. In honor of this important day, Iberville named the site Point du Mardi Gras.

The French in New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras until the Spanish took control of government in the mid-1700s and banned masked balls, parties and street dancing. Sometime around 1827, after the United States acquired the area through the Louisiana Purchase, Creoles convinced the new government to reinstate Mardi Gras. The first parade took place 10 years later.

Nowhere are celebrations and food as intertwined as they are in South Louisiana. Especially during Carnival season, which starts on Jan. 6 each year and ends at midnight on Fat Tuesday. Since the 1870s, it has been the custom at parties to cut a “King” cake in which a single gold bean has been hidden. Whoever receives the piece of cake with the bean is crowned “Queen” of the ball. Since the beginning of that custom, King Cakes have become a weekly tradition during Mardi Gras season. The cakes, made of brioche dough sprinkled with course sugar, have a miniature “baby” doll concealed inside – the person who gets the lucky slice must host another “King Cake” party.

Don’t have brioche dough handy? Here is a simple King Cake recipe for the do it yourself types:

1 can of cinnamon rolls, with icing

3/4 cup of sugar, separated into 3 parts of 1/4 each

Food coloring (purple, green and gold)

Separate the cinnamon rolls and roll them out by hand. Shape the roll into an oval, pinch the ends together, and place on a cookie sheet. Cook as directed.

While they are cooking, use food coloring to dye sugar (colored confectioners sugars are also available in each of the three traditional colors). Make one part purple, one part green, and one part gold (using yellow). When they are finished cooking, ice the tops with the white icing. Sprinkle the different colors of sugars on top, alternating as you go around the oval.

2 8-oz. boxes of New Orleans-style Jambalaya mix

4 tablespoons vegetable oil (optional)

5 cups water

1 lb. smoked sausage, sliced 1/4 inch thick

1 lb. cooked chicken breasts (about 4 medium), cubed

Follow the cooking directions on the package for either stovetop or microwave method. The cooked Jambalaya may be garnished with thinly sliced scallions (green onion). Options include adding cooked shrimp or ham cut into bite-sized pieces. Makes about ten 1-cup servings.

1 head cabbage, shredded

1 large carrot, grated

1 small purple onion, chopped

1 tbsp. green bell pepper, chopped

Creole mustard dressing (recipe below)

Prepare dressing at least four hours before serving. Toss chopped purple onion and green bell pepper with coleslaw mix. Add dressing a little at a time until coleslaw is well coated but not “soaking” in dressing. Refrigerate for two hours. Toss again before serving. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp. Creole mustard

1 tsp. Creole seasoning

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. celery seed

2/3-cup vegetable oil

Mardi Gras Day, or Fat Tuesday, is the traditional day for masking. However, you’ll find people enjoying this tradition beginning the Friday before Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras costumes are elaborate, and sequins and feathers a must. Families and friends often mask as a group.

In New Orleans, the heart of American Mardi Gras, anything goes. Even though obscenity laws are still on the books in the “Big Easy”, people get away with wearing, or not wearing just about anything on the holiday.

The French Quarter is often called the “adult” Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Costumes can be more than revealing, along with Carnival traditions such as “Show me your (insert preferred body part here)!” that might land a person in jail on any other day of the year. Luckily, police tend to look the other way during Mardi Gras.

The lower French Quarter is the center for Gay Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Since the 1850s, the term “krewe” has been used to describe groups or clubs that sponsor and host Mardi Gras parades and parties. The first Gay Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans began in the 1950s with the Krewe of Yuga better know as “KY”. The krewe was formed to satirize the straight, aristocratic Mardi Gras traditions. In 1962, the Krewe of Yuga threw its first ball at a poorly chosen sight – a private children’s school. When the party began with the Mardi Gras Queen and Maids awaiting the adoration of spectators, police cars roared up and the ball was raided. The doors to the party were locked and attendees were unceremoniously hauled to jail.

The GLBT community reorganized and new Gay Mardi Gras krewes began to flourish. Peaking in the early 1980s, there were dozens of Gay krewes that became the highlight of the Carnival season. According to stories, local matrons would beg for tickets from their hairdressers.

Today, there are five Gay krewes: Amon Ra, Mwindo, Petronius, Armeinius and the Lords of Leather.