Mardi Gras in Mobile

Mardi Gras is a Catholic festival that culminates on Fat Tuesday just prior to the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras first came to what is now Alabama with the early French explorers, who were led by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville. He recorded the first observance of Mardi Gras in Mobile in his journal in 1699. Today, thousands of Alabamians and visitors come to Mobile annually to participate in the various parades, which are sponsored by local mystic societies and presided over by an elected King and Queen. 

Source: Encyclopedia of Alabama
http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1437

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