#spring-carnival

#spring-carnival

More than 20 people were injured on Saturday after an alleged drunk driver plowed into pedestrians at a Louisiana parade celebrating the Lao New Year.

The festival of Pailhasses is one of France's most ancient carnival traditions. Celebrating the end of a longstanding rivalry with a neighbouring village, it has for more than 700 years allowed villagers to release frustrations before Lent. Its rituals are about strength, chasing and some form of attack. It is also notoriously secretive.

Sunset Mercantile and The United Irish Societies of San Francisco are joining forces to bring a cultural event to life. Join us on March 14th following the parade for live performances, food, and vendors from all across the Bay Area.

With more than 170 floats and 10,000 marchers, the 48th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebration was an explosion of colour. The rain held off until the end of the parade this year a welcome relief given the more than 100mm that Sydney experienced just a few days before.

It's a standard trope in portrayals of assimilated Jews to open with a scene built around a Christmas tree. That's how Tom Stoppard's " Leopoldstadt" and Alfred Uhry's " Last Night of Ballyhoo" begin, and also Ian Buruma's memoir about his grandparents, " Their Promised Land." The idea is, as soon as you show that, you've got the audience's full attention, especially if it's a Jewish audience, because it's so peculiar.

So Year of the Horse, it's energy, it's passion, it's momentum so a lot of things that we're really hoping to embody in the new year. We're in the home stretch. We've got a couple of days left and we've got a nice little team that's cranking out all the finishing work that needs to go into it.

BAY RIDGE - FASTELAVN, THE DANISH VERSION OF MARDI GRAS, comes to Bay Ridge on Saturday, Feb. 7. The Scandinavian East Coast Museum sponsors this annual event, held in advance of the penitential season of Lent, which is observed in many Lutheran countries, including in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Lent begins early this year, on Feb. 18, which will be Ash Wednesday. Bay Ridge carries a rich Scandinavian history dating back to the immigration waves of the mid-19th century and again post-World War II.

I'm chowing down on a mini King Cake, my breakfast. It's a braided cinnamon Danish sprinkled with purple, green, and gold edible glitter, with a cream cheese filling and a little plastic baby perched astride. The baby represents the infant Jesus and is said to bring luck (and an obligation to host the next fête, if he shows up in your slice.)

On Staten Island, Shrove Tuesday is a chance to celebrate with neighbors and friends before the hush of Lent settles over the borough. But the tradition has grown surprisingly scarce. This year, based on my research, only three congregations are firing up their griddles for the pre‑Lenten ritual-all free, with freewill donations accepted-serving pancakes, sausage, and the kind of fellowship that has defined the day for generations.

Whether it's called Shrove Tuesday, Pancake Day or Mardi Gras, many countries choose to celebrate the last day before Lent by indulging in something sweet or fatty. In the UK and parts of the US, this usually means a big plate of pancakes in the morning. In Denmark there are special buns known as Fastelavnsbolle, Whether you celebrate it for religious reasons, or just because of a love of pancakes, it can be a real treat during these winter days.

The Creole Nature Trail is a 180-mile scenic byway that cuts through Louisiana's Cajun Country, also known as Acadiana. The area, which is often called "Louisiana's Outback," is different from the Louisiana you thought you knew; instead of bayous, this part of the state is home to vast marshes, coastal prairies, waterways, and undeveloped Gulf beaches. And it's all accessible off of the Creole Nature Trail.

At first glance, Buck & Johnny's, a restaurant just outside Lafayette, Louisiana, looks unremarkable: a warehouse-like space with exposed brick, a large dance floor, and walls decorated with football helmets and old oil company signs. Then, a five-piece band strikes up in the corner. Louisiana zydeco rolls across the room, driven by accordion and the full-body washboard frottoir (a percussion instrument). Couples of all ages gravitate to the dance floor, stepping, spinning, and swaying with varying degrees of confidence.