They say you haven’t been to a party until you’ve experienced Mardi Gras and, while I was initially skeptical of just how much jubilance you can squeeze into a single festival, it took going to New Orleans to understand how seriously the city takes this cultural tradition.

Dating back to the times of the European Renaissance, Mardi Gras is French for “Fat Tuesday” and refers to the last day of all-holds-are-off celebrations that occurs before the 40-day fast that Catholics observe for Lent. Even those who know little about Mardi Gras will recognize the beads that come with many raunchy stories and elaborate floats that emerge in photos of New Orleans every year.

Related: Mardi Gras 2024: Everything to know about the New Orleans celebration

While American society has grown increasingly secular over the last half-century and far from everyone in even this heavily Catholic city sticks to the 40-day Lenten period, Mardi Gras is both a tradition and an institution that connects locals and tourists (different estimates show that at least a million descend on the city every year.)

Mardi Gras is all about beads, elaborate floats and tradition

I have been to New Orleans once before as a tourist during a regular weekend but, this time, I had the opportunity to experience the city on a press trip during its most jubilant and chaotic time. Along with the beads, one of the most well-recognized Mardi Gras symbols are the elaborate floats from which masked riders throw said beads and other fun items toward boisterous crowds.

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Each one is run by a Krewe, which is similar in structure to a social organization like the Soho Club, and is steeped firmly in tradition about what the riders wear, when they go through the city and the themes they follow.

The Zulu parade is one of the most popular and beloved in all of Mardi Gras

Along with being invited to ride in a Krewe of Orpheus float (read a detailed account of that experience here), I was able to watch parades for Bacchus, Rex and Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club — the latter was launched by African Americans who were excluded from the white Krewes at the turn of the century and over the years has become one of the most beloved of all Mardi Gras parades both for the celebration of Black triumph over discrimination as well as the bright African-inspired costumes and the painted coconuts that marchers throw at crowds. Such a coconut, which I was able to catch and bring back to New York due to standing close to the parade route in a press box, is among the most prized of all Mardi Gras throws.

Mardi Gras can best be described as nonstop parties that break out everywhere around the city for weeks leading up to Fat Tuesday. Along with celebrations on the streets, each parade ends in a gala where riders join the attendants who paid to see it from a comfortable seat instead of in a crowd. There is a lot of drinking, dancing and eating rich foods such as jambalaya, crawfish mac-and-cheese, fried chicken and the famed powdered sugar beignets. The “gras” in Mardi Gras originally referred to families using up the last oil in the house to cook all the rich foods they could before Lent began.

Street parties, galas and other celebrations are everywhere

I was particularly impressed by the organizational efforts it takes to roll so many floats through the city over the course of several days (there are nearly 80 krewes with in some cases more than 1,000 members each) as well as the joviality and convivial festivity that to a northern person like me felt like something from another era.

Whether it comes to dancing on the streets or putting on a bright costume and hugging strangers, Mardi Gras took me out of my comfort zone again and again in the most delightful way.

Veronika’s trip was sponsored by New Orleans & Company, a marketing organization promoting the city of New Orleans as a tourist destination.