The Mardi Gras

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that Mardi Gras can be traced back to Bacchus festivals of ancient Greece and Rome, where the carnival became popular in the middle of the second century. It also look at how it was popular in North America where the Creoles in the 1800s introduced it to New Orleans. The author points out that the New Orleans celebration includes a carnival parade of floats, which first were presented by the Comus krewe in 1857, bands and colorfully dressed marchers who belong to one of the seventy various krewes (carnival groups) in the metropolitan New Orleans of which ten have operated continuously for more than a century. The paper relates that the Rex krewe initiated the tossing of beads and toys to those who attended the parade in 1920, while greatly expanded the bead industry especially in China.

From the Paper:

"Are Mardi Gras traditions viable in Asian countries like Hong Kong? Hong Kong is a free market economy, the special administrative region of China, which is highly dependent on international trade. Recent statistics show that its natural resources are limited and its raw materials and food have to be imported. It had extensive trade and investment in China even before it reverted to Chinese administration in July 1997. The Asian economic brunt of 1998 hit Hong Kong quite hard and reduced its GDP, but many see its growth as recovering at 1.8% and 3.7% in the 2000s, comparable to the four big countries of Western Europe. Per pre-2000 figures, Hong Kong's GDP consisted mostly of services at 85%, with a 4% inflation rate, 3.36 million Its chief industries were textiles, clothing, tourism, electronics, plastics, toys, watches and clocks. Hopes could not altogether be pinned on China's regain of control over Hong Kong."

More papers on The Mardi Gras:

• Term Paper # 145561 : "Mardi Gras: Urban and Rural"
• Term Paper # 96600 : "Mardi Gras"
• Narrative Essay # 56519 : "New Orleans Mardi Gras"

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