Mardi Gras celebrations took place across the country Tuesday, otherwise known as Fat Tuesday.
Why is the holiday called Fat Tuesday? How does this holiday relate to Lent?
Here’s what we know.
What are other names for Mardi Gras? CNN reported that the term Mardi Gras is the French term for Fat Tuesday and that there are different names for the holiday, depending on the location of where people are celebrating.
Other names include Shrove Tuesday, Carnival Tuesday or Pancake Tuesday.
What is Mardi Gras? The origin of the celebration dates back to ancient Roman harvest season festivals that were then turned by Christians into celebrations that preluded the season of Lent, CNN reported.
The holiday is a celebration to indulge before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent for Christians, according to Fox News.
As Lent is a time for abstinence from sinful or gluttonous actions, it is reported that those who celebrate Mardi Gras do so by eating foods that contain sugar, fats and eggs, like pancakes or the traditional king cake.
What are the point of Mardi Gras beads? Beads are worn in the colors purple, green and gold, which symbolize justice, faith and power in the Christian religion.
People traditionally throw the beads in the air to show their joy and celebration for Lent and the upcoming fast.
Why doesn’t Utah celebrate Mardi Gras as widely as other states? Axios reported that despite a Christian religion dominating the state, Utah’s pioneers didn’t adopt every holiday that other Christian religions had set out to observe.
As the holiday is reportedly set for Christians to confess their sins before a period of abstinence, a new WalletHub study ranked the U.S. states from most to least sinful for the holiday, which landed Utah in a low ranking of 43rd most sinful out of all 50 states.
This study ranked the states from data relating to crime within them throughout the year, according to Fox News.