San Diego Celebrates Mardi Gras & Pancake Day
San Diego doesn’t have it’s own holidays, but that doesn’t stop us from celebrating. Let’s face it, we just love a party! We borrow many of our holidays from countries around the world, and today, we have a couple to choose from.
Mardi Gras (literally meaning Fat Tuesday)
Tomorrow is the first day of Lent. Traditionally, Christians give up luxurious food and festivities for the following forty days of Lent. As it’s practiced today, people often give up something they enjoy, or give the time or money spent doing that to a charity.
The day before lent (today) is Fat Tuesday. This has become a day for wild parties and feasts, where excesses are celebrated in preparation for the days of abstinence to follow. In reality, more San Diegans probably participate in Mardi Gras than in Lent itself.
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There are Mardi Gras celebrations going on around the county tonight, and the biggest is definitely in the Gaslamp. (See film from last year’s Brazilian Mardi Gras Ball in the Gaslamp above, courtesy of Brazilian Promotions.) The Gaslamp Quarter’s Mardi Gras is the district’s 11th New Orleans-themed 
street party, running along Fifth Avenue between E and L Streets from 7 p.m. to midnight. About 40,000 people are expected to participate in this costumed celebration, with live bands on outdoor stages and roving street performers. (Videos of last celebration can be found at Lets Play Downtown.) Dinner packages are available at restaurants throughout the district. The parade starts at 9 p.m., with more than 45 floats. Bring your beads and your mask, but leave cameras and videocameras at home. They’re forbidden, as are:
- alcohol
- illegal drugs
- weapons
- umbrellas
- tape recorders
- lawn chairs
- tents
- bicycles
- wagons
- large backpacks
- skateboards
- rollerblades
- coolers
- cans
- glass containers
- pets
- large bags
You have to be twenty-one or older to participate in this celebration, and tickets are available for $20 (or $30 with most dinner packages). For more information, go to Gaslamp Mardi Gras.
The next biggest celebration takes place at the 6th Annual Hillcrest Mardi Gras Street Party. Held along University Avenue between First and Fourth Avenues, this event runs from 6 to 11 p.m. Mardi Gras entertainment includes outdoor stage shows with Pepper Mashay and Candye Kane, a laser show and dancers, along with food booths. Tickets are $20, with VIP tickets at $75, if there are any more available. For more information, and pictures of previous celebrations, visit Hillcrest Mardi Gras Street Party.
Many churches around the county are also having pre-lent dinners tonight for their congregations.
Pancake Day
Similar to Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day (also called Shrove Tuesday), is a day to clean out the pantry, but in this case, you make pancakes. This was thought by the British to be a good way to use up ingredients such as eggs, butter and lard in the pantry before the long fast during Lent. And who better to promote this holiday than the International House of Pancakes (IHOP)?
IHOPs around the country are giving away short stacks of buttermilk pancakes, and asking that patrons give what they would have spent on the pancakes to their local children’s hospitals through the Children’s Miracle Network.
If you don’t feel like going out, or you’d like to have your own celebration for the whole family, why not make some pancakes for dinner? Almost every culture has some sort of pancake, and the ingredients vary widely, so feel free to bring in recipes from your culture, or just buy some mix and whip up a batch. It’s an easy way to participate in this international holiday, and no matter how you make them, pancakes are delicious!
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POSTED IN: Cooking & Cuisine, Events, Pay it Forward, Recreation
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