Mardi Gras (aka Fat Tuesday, aka Packzi Day) is a celebration of excess that takes place on the day before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Lent. This year, the holiday falls on February 21 and will be celebrated with music, parades, picnics, floats and tons of food.
This family-friendly Mardi Gras guide offers you some NOLA-style recipes, crafts and activities to introduce your kids to the holiday. Get ready to throw your own spectacular celebration at home — minus the parade floats.
Get Cooking
The origins of Fat Tuesday date all the way back to medieval Europe when people would use up all the fat in their pantries by indulging in scrumptious treats before they began their Lenten fast. This holiday is the perfect way to introduce your kids to delicious New Orleans-style recipes.
There are so many dishes you can include in your Mardi Gras menu, from chicken and sausage gumbo, shrimp etouffee and dirty rice to desserts like beignets and the traditional King Cake. Delish offers more than 20 Mardi Gras recipes and Southern Living features more than 30.
Fat Tuesday in Chicagoland also means it’s time to put away a paczki or two, and while you can get some of these Polish-inspired desserts at most local grocery stores, you can’t beat the fresh paczkis offered at these local bakeries.
Dine Out
If you prefer to have someone else do the cooking, don’t worry! These Chicagoland restaurants feature authentic Cajun menus sure to hit the spot.
Pearl’s Southern Comfort combines classic Cajun flavor with other southern recipes, like Mississippi catfish and Kansas City barbeque. For a limited time, you can take home a Mardi Gras King Cake and decorate it with the kiddos at home.
- Address: 5352 N. Broadway, Chicago
The folks at Joker’s Cajun Smokehouse know how to get down in the kitchen. With a menu offering hush puppies, gumbo, smoked chicken, cornbread and red beans and rice, you’re sure to leave with a full stomach. If you’re downtown, check out their location in the French Market that’s perfect for a New Orleans-style lunch.
- Address: 2416 W. Schubert Ave,, Chicago
If you’re more of a brunch person, head to Luella’s Southern Kitchen for dishes full of Louisiana flavor, like shrimp and grits, salmon buttermilk biscuits, chicken gumbo and more.
- Address: 4609 N. Lincoln Ave,, Chicago
Moe Joes has a late-night Cajun-Caribbean menu offering blackened chicken, andouille sausage, jerk wings, po boys and other New Orleans favorites.
- Address: 24033 W. Lockport St., Plainfield
With three Chicagoland locations to choose from, a meal at Lowcountry is a must for anyone who wants to celebrate Mardi Gras with southern seafood. Choose from shrimp, snow crab, mussels and more, then pair it with cornbread, potatoes or corn. And, of course, there’s beignets for dessert!
Mardi Gras Activities
Mardi Gras is often associated with the colors purple, green and yellow, which represent justice, faith and power, respectively. Start by decorating your home in these colors, then head to a party supply store to find festive bead necklaces and other party favors that kids will love.
Once you have your home decorated, you can teach your kids more about the holiday and keep them entertained with these fun craft and activity ideas.
- Watch The Princess and The Frog. It’s set in 1926 New Orleans and we’ve found plenty of Mardi Gras-inspired activities that go along with it.
- Make a Mardi Gras mask. In the beginning, masks were worn during Mardi Gras to help the wearer escape class constraints. Masks are still worn today to add to the excitement of the holiday.
- Make some Mardi Gras slime. Kids love to make slime and this recipe from Premeditated Leftovers incorporates the traditional colors of the holiday.
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