<P> The first record of Mardi Gras being celebrated in Louisiana was at the mouth of the Mississippi River in what is now lower Plaquemines Parish , Louisiana , on March 2 , 1699 . Iberville , Bienville , and their men celebrated it as part of an observance of Catholic practice . The date of the first celebration of the festivities in New Orleans is unknown . A 1730 account by Marc - Antione Caillot celebrating with music and dance , masking and costuming ( including cross-dressing ) . ( 1 ) An account from 1743 that the custom of Carnival balls was already established . Processions and wearing of masks in the streets on Mardi Gras took place . They were sometimes prohibited by law , and were quickly renewed whenever such restrictions were lifted or enforcement waned . In 1833 Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville , a rich plantation owner of French descent , raised money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration . </P>
<P> The first record of Mardi Gras being celebrated in Louisiana was at the mouth of the Mississippi River in what is now lower Plaquemines Parish , Louisiana , on March 2 , 1699 . Iberville , Bienville , and their men celebrated it as part of an observance of Catholic practice . The date of the first celebration of the festivities in New Orleans is unknown . A 1730 account by Marc - Antione Caillot celebrating with music and dance , masking and costuming ( including cross-dressing ) . ( 1 ) An account from 1743 that the custom of Carnival balls was already established . Processions and wearing of masks in the streets on Mardi Gras took place . They were sometimes prohibited by law , and were quickly renewed whenever such restrictions were lifted or enforcement waned . In 1833 Bernard Xavier de Marigny de Mandeville , a rich plantation owner of French descent , raised money to fund an official Mardi Gras celebration . </P>
when did mardi gras start in new orleans
when did mardi gras start in new orleans
March 2 , 1699
March 2 , 1699