These local events feature parades, carnivals, Cajun food and of course, music. Mardi Gras — March 4 this year — is held just before the start of Lent, a period of fasting preceding Easter. Parades, parties and carnivals typically ramp up weeks before Ash Wednesday, with the last day of celebration held the day before, known as Fat Tuesday (or in French, “Mardi Gras”).

Gloucester

The 32nd Annual Gloucester Mardi Gras, Eastern NC’s longest-running Mardi Gras festival, will be held on Feb. 15 starting around 11 a.m. at the Gloucester Community Club on Pigott Road. Located outside of Beaufort, the community models its kid-friendly celebration after the rural Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana. Folks come together to make gumbo and other Louisiana-style dishes, create masks, enjoy a kids’ King and Queen march, as well as a “Fool’s Procession” people’s parade for all that’s full of costumes, bead tossing, dancing and live Cajun music. The local Unknown Tongues, a Cajun zydeco band, kicks it up a notch at 3 p.m.

Festival co-founders Bryan and Barbara Blake, who are also members of Unknown Tongues, started the event as a way to give back to the community. A portion of all proceeds and cash donations goes toward a scholarship fund for local high school seniors.

“It means a lot to the community to have a free, grassroots space to have fun, eat great food, meet new friends and celebrate community; locals and nonlocals keep coming back year after year,” Barbara says. “Many people help chop ingredients for the gumbo the Friday eve before and stir the roux. Most food ingredients are donated by community members, and all the seafood is local.”

Beaufort

What started more than 10 years ago as the “World’s Shortest Parade” in downtown Beaufort has grown into a two-day event: the Beaufort Mardi Gras Carnival Weekend. 

“The parade started just to get people downtown,” explains Nelson Owens, executive director of the Beaufort Business Association. “Now we have more than 5,000 people attend, with many coming from across the state, even from South Carolina and Virginia.”

The fun kicks off with a street carnival and parade on Saturday morning, March 1. Visitors enjoy Louisiana-inspired food, music, kids’ activities, stilt walkers, jugglers, unicyclists, and more at the carnival before the parade begins at 3 p.m. The parade, complete with the Mardi Gras King and Queen, starts at Front Street at Live Oak, onto Turner Street to the Carteret-Craven Courthouse. The Cajun Cookoff will be at the Beaufort Historic Grounds on Turner Street. Saturday evening features the Masquerade Ball. The weekend winds down at the Sinners Remorse Brunch on Sunday morning.

Oak Island

Further south from the Crystal Coast at the southern tip of the NC coastline, fun is also to be had at the Oak Island Mardi Gras by the Sea Parade and Festival. The event kicks off with a Mardi Gras parade beginning on Keziah Street at 11 a.m., which ends at Middleton Park Complex on Dolphin Drive, where the fun continues with food, a crafts market, a kids’ zone and music from the local Old Man Mafia band.