Mardi Gras itself is one day, but it sits at the end of a longer “Carnival season.”

  • Start: Carnival (the Mardi Gras season) traditionally begins on Twelfth Night, January 6, every year, tied to the Christian calendar as the end of the Christmas season.
  • End: Mardi Gras Day, also called Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday, is always the day before Ash Wednesday , so the exact date shifts each year but always falls between early February and early March.

In practice, you can think of it this way:

  • The “Mardi Gras season” starts January 6 and runs up through Fat Tuesday.
  • The holiday “Mardi Gras” ends at midnight on Fat Tuesday, when Lent begins and the party officially stops.

For example, in 2026, Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday) falls on February 17, 2026 , so the season runs from January 6, 2026, through the night of February 17, 2026.

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