Mardi Gras / Ash Wednesday / Lent

We're now in the Lenten season, a period of 40 days of solemn contemplation before the joy of Easter (okay, the 40 days doesn't count Sundays, and in some traditions Lent ends on Maundy Thursday instead, so it's 42-46 days). Lent starts with Ash Wednesday. I couldn't actually find any good LEGO creations for Ash Wednesday or Lent - of course there are lots of things based on Easter and the biblical events leading up to that day - so I'm going to highlight Mardi Gras here. Mardi Gras literally means 'Fat Tuesday', and it was a day of feasts and parties on the eve of Lent before starting ritual fasts on Ash Wednesday. The festival aspects have grown, and the Mardi Gras or Carnival season can last several weeks in various countries. In the US we mostly think of Mardi Gras in terms of the partying at this time in New Orleans, which is seen in the New Orleans section of Legoland California.



Here's a Mardi Gras mask by Carson Hart.