Parades, costumes, beads, music, delicious food and more, who wouldn’t love a party like that?! Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, is a vibrant and festive celebration that is helped in many countries around the world.
It’s a great time for people to come together to celebrate joy and community.
While we do not live in New Orleans, we can still celebrate Mardi Gras here in the Boise area. And there are a few different ways to do so.
Kick off the Mardi Gras celebrations at home, with your family, with a King Cake. This is a traditional pastry that is typically sweet, oval-shaped made from brioche dough and filled with cinnamon and sugar. The cake is often decorated with colorful icing or in the traditional mardi Gras colors of purple, green and gold which symbolize justice, faith and power.
The King Cake is unique as it has hidden a small plastic baby. The tradition of this hidden treasure in the King Cake is that whoever receives the slice of cake with the baby is responsible for hosting the next King Cake party or buying the next cake for the upcoming year.
Here are a few local Boise bakeries where you can purchase your own King Cake:
- Pastry Perfection
5855 N Glendwood St Boise
- Sweet Spot Bakery
2514 Cleveland Blvd Caldwell
- Nothing Bundt Cakes
1400 N Eagle Rd #106 Meridian
If you’re more of a party person rather than a cake person, that’s okay! There are quite a few events for you to choose from. Here are a few local events happening this Fat Tuesday and coming up in Boise:
- Kids' Class: Mardi Gras Masks 4:30pm at City of Eagle City Hall
- Mardi Gras-Downtown Business Crawl at Indian Creek Plaza 10am-10pm
- Blue Roux and Trials & Tribulations at The Sapphire Room 6-9pm
- Radio Boise's 1st Annual Fat Tuesday 7pm-11:30pm at The Balcony
- Delfeayo Marsali's & The Uptown Jazz Orchestra at The Morrison Center at 7pm
- Bri at The Village-Mardi Gras Costume Carnival 2/23/2024 11pm
No matter what you decide to do to celebrate Mardi Gras, we hope you have a fun and safe night out! Cheers!