Mardi Gras 2013 is Tuesday, February 12

Mobile's Parades, Krewes & Mardi Gras Calendar

(Please check back in the next few days/weeks for an updated calendar of 2012 Mardi Gras events)

Mobile’s Carnival season seems to go on much longer than in many other cities. In Mobile, more than 50 groups organize parades, balls, and festivities over a period of up to three weeks.

Mobile parade routes include sections that are designated family friendly and prohibit the consumption of alcohol. Bienville Square and Spanish Plaza are centrally located for parade watching, while Dauphin and Royal Streets are home to numerous restaurants, music venues, and shops.

In Mobile’s Mardi Gras culture, you won’t often hear the word krewe (as you might in Louisiana). Here they refer to their parading organizations as "orders" or "societies", or "Knights of", though they serve much the same social, civic, and cultural function. In 1830, Cowbellion de Rakin, Mobile’s first masked parading society was founded, and since that time numerous secret (and not so secret) societies have been formed around Mobile’s Mardi Gras parading tradition.

Because of the number of parades in Mobile, multiple parade routes are used on Fat Tuesday and on the other busy parading days around the peak of Mardi Gras.

Click here to visit the Mobile Carnival Museum's website, and access their list of parade routes and route maps.

As the ancestral home of Carnival in the United States, Mobile, AL has a long proud history of putting on Mardi Gras. With so much to see and do around town, and temperate Gulf Coast weather even in February, Mobile is simply a great place to visit with family and friends at any time of year.

Because Mobile has such a long Mardi Gras parading season it’s possible to enjoy the town and the festivities without getting bogged down with crowds and partygoers (unless that’s your thing), making it ideal for families.

Overall, Mobile offers one of the best Mardi Gras mixes on the Gulf Coast. It’s big with the go wild crowd, but offers more than enough for those who want to participate quietly, and everything in between.

2012 Mobile Mardi Gras Calendar

The Mobile Carnival Museum has a fabulous Mardi Gras calendar and a list of parade routes and route maps. You'll find it on their website by clicking here.

But remember to hit "Back" on your browser to keep reading All About Mardi Gras.

Check back for updates as we get closer to Mardi Gras.

Mobile | Daytime Activities | Dining