Grab the beads, find a slice of king cake, and let the good times roll.
These Mardi Gras trivia questions parade through Carnival history, New Orleans traditions, Gulf Coast celebrations, food, music, and more.
Mardi Gras Basics
Start with the calendar and vocabulary, then march into our larger holiday trivia collection.
- What does Mardi Gras mean in English?
Answer: Fat Tuesday - Which language gives us the phrase Mardi Gras?
Answer: French - Mardi Gras falls immediately before which Christian observance?
Answer: Ash Wednesday - Ash Wednesday begins which season?
Answer: Lent - Why does Mardi Gras change dates each year?
Answer: Its date is tied to Easter - Can Mardi Gras fall in February or March?
Answer: Yes - What broader festive season includes Mardi Gras?
Answer: Carnival - On what Christian feast does the traditional Carnival season begin?
Answer: Epiphany, also called Twelfth Night - What date is Epiphany in Western Christianity?
Answer: January 6 - What does the term Shrove Tuesday refer to?
Answer: The day before Ash Wednesday
New Orleans Carnival History
New Orleans made Mardi Gras famous, but the Gulf Coast story starts a little farther east.
- Which Louisiana city is most internationally associated with Mardi Gras?
Answer: New Orleans - Which Alabama city claims the oldest organized annual Carnival celebration in the United States?
Answer: Mobile - Which French explorers held an early Gulf Coast Mardi Gras observance in 1699?
Answer: Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville - What Louisiana location did d’Iberville name Point du Mardi Gras?
Answer: A spot near the mouth of the Mississippi River - In what century was New Orleans founded?
Answer: The eighteenth century - What year was New Orleans founded?
Answer: 1718 - Which secret society organized New Orleans’s first formal nighttime parade in 1857?
Answer: The Mistick Krewe of Comus - What did Comus introduce to New Orleans Carnival?
Answer: A themed torchlit parade with floats - Which krewe began parading in 1872?
Answer: Rex - What nickname is given to the Rex monarch?
Answer: The King of Carnival
Krewes, Courts, and Parade People
A Mardi Gras krewe is part club, part production crew, and part keeper of gloriously elaborate secrets.
- What is a Mardi Gras krewe?
Answer: An organization that stages Carnival events such as parades or balls - How is the word krewe pronounced?
Answer: Like crew - What royal figures often preside over a krewe’s festivities?
Answer: A king and queen - What is a krewe’s formal indoor celebration called?
Answer: A Carnival ball - Which all-female krewe first paraded in 1941?
Answer: Krewe of Venus - Which women’s superkrewe is known for decorated high-heel throws?
Answer: Krewe of Muses - Which krewe is famous for hand-decorated coconuts?
Answer: Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club - Which superkrewe is named for the Greek god of wine?
Answer: Bacchus - Which superkrewe is named for a celestial shepherd from Greek mythology?
Answer: Endymion - What does a parade captain oversee?
Answer: The krewe’s parade and organization
Beads, Doubloons, and Coveted Throws
Keep your eyes up and your hands ready because this round is coming off the float.
- What are objects tossed from parade floats called?
Answer: Throws - Which colorful plastic necklaces are the best-known throws?
Answer: Beads - What metallic coin-like throws were popularized by Rex in 1960?
Answer: Doubloons - What information often appears on a krewe doubloon?
Answer: The krewe emblem and parade theme or year - What phrase do spectators traditionally shout to riders?
Answer: Throw me something, mister! - Are parade-goers required to expose themselves to receive beads?
Answer: No, that is not a traditional requirement - What household item is famously decorated and thrown by the Krewe of Tucks?
Answer: Toilet brushes - What footwear-shaped item is the signature throw of Muses?
Answer: A glittering high heel - What fruit is the signature throw associated with Zulu?
Answer: A decorated coconut - Why are signature throws especially prized?
Answer: They are handmade or limited and tied to a specific krewe
Purple, Green, Gold, and Parade Style
The official palette is bold enough to spot from the end of St. Charles Avenue.
- What are the three official Mardi Gras colors?
Answer: Purple, green, and gold - Which krewe selected those colors in 1872?
Answer: Rex - What does purple traditionally symbolize?
Answer: Justice - What does green traditionally symbolize?
Answer: Faith - What does gold traditionally symbolize?
Answer: Power - What face covering is common at Carnival balls and parades?
Answer: A mask - Under Louisiana tradition, who is legally required to wear masks on Mardi Gras while riding a float?
Answer: Float riders - What feathered accessory often accompanies a Carnival costume?
Answer: A headdress - What old-fashioned illumination do flambeaux carriers provide?
Answer: Flaming torches - What did flambeaux originally help spectators see?
Answer: Nighttime parade floats
King Cake and Carnival Food
Save room for this round, then sample more tasty questions in our food trivia.
- What ring-shaped pastry is eaten during Carnival season?
Answer: King cake - What three colors usually decorate a New Orleans king cake?
Answer: Purple, green, and gold - What small object is traditionally hidden inside a king cake?
Answer: A plastic baby - What does the hidden baby represent in Christian tradition?
Answer: The infant Jesus - What is the finder of the baby often expected to do?
Answer: Buy the next king cake or host the next party - What flavor commonly spirals through a New Orleans-style king cake?
Answer: Cinnamon - What Louisiana rice dish often combines meat, vegetables, and seasoning?
Answer: Jambalaya - What stew is thickened with roux, okra, or filé and served over rice?
Answer: Gumbo - What powdered-sugar-covered fried pastry is a New Orleans favorite?
Answer: A beignet - What sandwich on round Sicilian bread is known for olive salad?
Answer: A muffuletta
Neighborhood Routes and New Orleans Landmarks
Mardi Gras stretches far beyond Bourbon Street, and the parade map proves it.
- Do the major New Orleans Mardi Gras parades roll through Bourbon Street?
Answer: No, the major float parades use broader avenues - Which tree-lined avenue is central to the Uptown parade route?
Answer: St. Charles Avenue - Which public square marks the edge of the French Quarter near the Mississippi River?
Answer: Jackson Square - What historic neighborhood is often called the Vieux Carré?
Answer: The French Quarter - Which street is famous for nightlife in the French Quarter?
Answer: Bourbon Street - What neutral-ground term means the median of a New Orleans street?
Answer: Neutral ground - What parade-watching structures are often built from wood and ladders for children?
Answer: Ladder seats - Which avenue’s mansions form a classic parade backdrop?
Answer: St. Charles Avenue - What convention-center district often hosts superkrewe balls after parades?
Answer: The Warehouse District - What river runs beside New Orleans?
Answer: The Mississippi River
Music, Indians, and Living Traditions
Turn up the brass band for a round rooted in New Orleans communities and performance.
- What musical style is central to many New Orleans parades?
Answer: Brass band music - What is a second line?
Answer: Followers who dance behind the main parade group or brass band - What handheld accessory is often waved by second-line dancers?
Answer: A decorated parasol or handkerchief - What are the Black masking groups formerly called Mardi Gras Indians increasingly called?
Answer: Black Masking Indians - What do Black Masking Indian groups create by hand?
Answer: Elaborate beaded and feathered suits - What community title commonly leads a Black Masking Indian tribe?
Answer: Big Chief - On what day do Black Masking Indians traditionally appear in the streets?
Answer: Mardi Gras Day - What Sunday observance after Mardi Gras also features Black Masking Indian gatherings?
Answer: Super Sunday - Which Professor Longhair song is a Carnival standard?
Answer: Go to the Mardi Gras - Which stop-time song by the Hawketts became a Mardi Gras anthem?
Answer: Mardi Gras Mambo
Mobile and Cajun Mardi Gras
Louisiana does not own every custom, and even within the state, Carnival changes shape from city streets to Cajun country.
- Which city’s Carnival organization Order of Myths dates to 1867?
Answer: Mobile, Alabama - What Mobile Mardi Gras treat is famously thrown from floats?
Answer: Moon Pies - What French name describes the rural Cajun Mardi Gras run?
Answer: Courir de Mardi Gras - What do courir participants traditionally travel from house to house collecting?
Answer: Ingredients for a communal gumbo - What live bird may participants chase as part of the courir tradition?
Answer: A chicken - What pointed hat is worn in some Cajun Mardi Gras costumes?
Answer: A capuchon - What material often forms fringe on traditional courir costumes?
Answer: Strips of colorful fabric - What language is used in many traditional Cajun Mardi Gras songs?
Answer: Louisiana French - Does the courir tradition resemble a formal New Orleans float parade?
Answer: No, it is a rural house-to-house procession - What communal dish ends many courir celebrations?
Answer: Chicken and sausage gumbo
Carnival Around the World
Finish with Carnival cousins worldwide, then explore our world festivals trivia.
- Which Brazilian city is famous for samba-school Carnival parades?
Answer: Rio de Janeiro - What purpose-built Rio venue hosts the largest samba parades?
Answer: The Sambadrome - Which Italian city is famous for elegant Carnival masks?
Answer: Venice - What Caribbean nation hosts a major pre-Lenten Carnival in Port of Spain?
Answer: Trinidad and Tobago - What steel percussion instrument is central to Trinidad Carnival?
Answer: Steelpan - What music genre is closely associated with Trinidad Carnival?
Answer: Calypso - What does the French-derived Carnival word masquerade involve?
Answer: Wearing masks or costumes - Which Canadian city hosts a major winter carnival featuring Bonhomme?
Answer: Quebec City - What is Bonhomme’s signature clothing accessory?
Answer: A red sash - What common theme links Mardi Gras and other Carnivals?
Answer: Celebration before the solemn season of Lent
Sources and Further Reading
- Mardi Gras New Orleans: History and Traditions
- Louisiana State Museum: Mardi Gras
- Encyclopaedia Britannica: Mardi Gras
- Mobile Carnival Museum
- Smithsonian Folklife: Black Masking Indians
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