Gulf Coast Prepares for Carnival Season

Monday was the 12th night of Christmas, and the Gulf Coast is officially making the transition from the holiday season to Carnival season! The Biloxi Visitors Center is where the holiday season began with the lighting of the Biloxi Lighthouse, and it is also the place to end the season and usher in Carnival season.

The reigning royal court of the Gulf Coast Carnival Association was presented Monday night to extinguish the Christmas lights at the Biloxi Lighthouse. After that, they boarded a float and paraded to the Mardi Gras Museum in downtown Biloxi, where the lights on the museum will be illuminated, signaling the beginning of Carnival season. The occasion also serves as a reminder of the religious significance of Carnival that is too often overlooked by the revelers of Mardi Gras.

Bill Raymond, Historical Administrator for Biloxi, says, "And that’s the official end of Christmas is the epiphany and that is the anniversary of the three wise men coming to visit Jesus, so that was really the end of that Christmas celebration, so that’s where it all comes from, and that’s why Mardi Gras starts when it does, because the epiphany actually ends that Christmas season, so we can start Mardi Gras right after that."

The Carnival season will last all the way until Mardi Gras Day, or Fat Tuesday, which falls on February 17th this year.