One of America's biggest cultural celebrations, Mardi Gras, will take place soon, just before the start of the Easter season.

the Christian season of preparation for Easter. FILE – Rex, the King of Carnival, rides in the Krewe of Rex as he arrives at Canal St. on Mardi Gras day in New Orleans, March 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Gerald ...

This week, across the New Orleans area, descendants of Sicilian immigrants will lay out elaborate altars laden with food and ...

Watch as Mardi Gras celebrations take place throughout New Orleans on Tuesday, March 4, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday.

The outfits (like a krewe of Anne Kirkpatricks) were wacky, wonderful and weird, as thousands took over the streets in the Marigny and Bywater.

New Orleans — As the sun rose over New Orleans on Tuesday, a crowd gathered in the historic Treme neighborhood, their faces covered in skeletal masks with protruding antlers — the first revelers ...

The city’s two biggest parades are set to go on with earlier start times, shorter routes, and no marching bands, New Orleans ...

Mardi Gras, regarded as the last celebration before the start of Lent leading up to Easter, will take place on March 4 this year, according to the Mardi Gras New Orleans website. It always falls ...

the Christian season of preparation for Easter. Carnival celebrations have become thoroughly secularized in New Orleans, where the largest and best-known celebrations in the U.S. include street ...