Busy MS Coast Mardi Gras season is on a shorter schedule this year. Here’s why
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Mardi Gras season runs Jan. 6 to Feb. 17 in 2026, totaling six weeks.
- Duration shortened from 58 days in 2025 because Fat Tuesday fell in March.
- Mardi Gras date links to lunar cycle: Easter follows full moon after equinox.
The Mardi Gras season that began Tuesday will pack parades, king cakes and revelry into a quick season of just six weeks.
The timeline is shorter than last year, when Fat Tuesday fell in March and Mardi Gras season lasted 58 days.
Mardi Gras Day this year is Feb. 17.
Why is Mardi Gras season shorter this year?
The season starts each year on Jan. 6, known as Twelfth Night. But how long it lasts depends on the moon.
Mardi Gras Day always falls just before Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Ash Wednesday is always 46 days before Easter.
But Easter can fall between various dates in March and April, depending on the cycles of the moon. The holiday is the first Sunday after the full moon that follows the spring equinox. The spring equinox is March 20, when the day and night are almost exactly the same length.
So Easter this year also falls earlier, on April 5.
And Mardi Gras season in 2027 will be even shorter: Next year, Fat Tuesday is Feb. 9.