When Is Mardi Gras? Dates, Parade Schedule and How to Plan Transportation Around It

Mardi Gras doesn't fall on a fixed date, which surprises a lot of first-time visitors trying to plan a trip. It's set by the date of Easter, which itself moves every year according to the lunar calendar, and Fat Tuesday — the actual day of Mardi Gras — always lands 47 days before Easter Sunday. That single rule explains why the holiday can show up anywhere from early February to early March.

How to Find the Exact Date

The simplest method: look up the date of Easter for the year you're planning around, then count back 47 days, or 46 days to Ash Wednesday, the day after Fat Tuesday when Mardi Gras officially ends. Most calendars and a quick search will give you Easter's date instantly; from there the Mardi Gras date follows automatically. Because the swing is large — more than three weeks across different years — never assume Mardi Gras falls "around the same time" as a previous year's trip without checking the specific date.

Mardi Gras Isn't One Day — It's a Season

Fat Tuesday itself is the climax, but the parade season building up to it runs roughly two weeks, with the final ten days before Fat Tuesday carrying the overwhelming majority of major parades, including the big Uptown krewes along St. Charles Avenue. If your trip is built around "seeing Mardi Gras," the final weekend before Fat Tuesday — plus the Tuesday itself — is the highest-concentration window for parades, crowds, and street closures.

Why the Moving Date Matters for Transportation Planning

Because the date shifts every year, so does demand timing — hotels, restaurants and ground transportation all see their Mardi Gras-season demand spike shift along with the calendar. A trip planner who books transportation "two months before the date I remember from a previous year" can easily miscalculate by weeks if that year's Mardi Gras fell notably earlier or later. The only reliable method is to check the specific year's date directly, then count backward from there for your booking timeline.

Booking Transportation Around the Real Dates

Once you know your specific year's dates, 30 to 60 days ahead is a safer minimum booking window than the two-week lead time that works for an ordinary weekend — St. Charles Avenue parade routes close streets in ways that make same-day or last-minute booking a genuine gamble. Krewe members with a confirmed parade assignment and den location should book even earlier, often months ahead; our krewe and float-rider logistics guide covers that process specifically, and our parade route pickup guide covers where vehicles can realistically stage for spectators.

Sprinter vans are typically the first vehicle class to sell out for the final parade weekend, often six to eight weeks ahead, since krewe groups and visiting families both prefer them for moving a group together through street closures.

A Simple Planning Checklist

• Look up the exact Easter date for your travel year, then count back 47 days for Fat Tuesday.
• Identify the final ten days before Fat Tuesday — this is the highest-parade-density window.
• Book hotels and transportation at the same time, 30 to 60 days ahead at minimum.
• If you're riding in a krewe, book transportation as soon as your parade assignment is confirmed.
• Expect St. Charles Avenue and other parade-route streets to close on a schedule tied to each parade, not a fixed daily time.

Book Your Mardi Gras Transportation

See our full Mardi Gras parade transportation page for the service details, or call (877) 609-1919 or book online once you have your dates confirmed.