German Club has Oktoberfest. Spanish Honors Society hosts the Dia de Los Muertos Festival. But what about the French Club? Two of the three languages offered on the CHS campus hold schoolwide festivals to celebrate holidays respective to their culture. Recently, the French Club has added their holiday to the mix: Mardi Gras.
“Mardi Gras” translates to “Fat Tuesday” in English. Participants are meant to consume all the fats in one’s household in preparation for Lent, a period of time associated with Christianity where a person fasts for 40 days before Easter. Today, Mardi Gras is more of a cultural holiday, used as a time to feast and party.
Senior Nathalie Sabicer, president of the French Club on camp
us, explained why they added a Mardi Gras celebration.
“We wanted to do a Mardi Gras event on campus for years, but this year we just got the approval we needed to host it, and we hope it becomes a yearly French Club event,” Sabicer said.
There was also overlap from their other planned events, but the club prioritized adding this festivity to this year’s calendar.
Sabicer explained more about the background of the holiday and why this holiday was chosen out of the numerous ones in French Culture.
“We chose to have a Mardi Gras event because French holidays are normally very similar to holidays here in the U.S., like Chris
tmas and Independence Day,” Sabicer said. “Many people think the celebration is only in New Orleans, but Mardi Gras is actually celebrated in many countries like France, Brazil, the Czech Republic, and Belgium.”
Katie Kwon, a junior and member of the French Club, elaborated on Mardi Gras being chosen for the celebration. She felt that the holiday could not be fully understood without experiencing it directly.
“The holiday is known for its fun, festive atmosphere and community spirit,” Kwon said. “This aligns perfectly with our goal of fostering cultural appreciation and connection among students. We felt that by hosting this event, we not only celebrate a significant holiday but also create an inclusive space for everyone to experience and learn about French culture in an exciting and interactive way.”
The French Club at CHS has decided to host this festive celebration to honor and represent part of the diverse French Culture. Among the already vivid colors—gold, green, and purple to represent power, faith, and justice respectively—-are foods and festivities equally as vibrant -in flavor and spirit.
“Mardi Gras typically revolves around a parade with big floats and lots of music,” Sabicer said. “People eat lots of creole food like gumbo, jambalaya, and beignets, and there are costumes, games, and dancing on the streets of New Orleans.”
One of the fun elements of the celebration has been incorporated into a little game the festival held. King Cake, a sweet cinnamon cake dessert, traditionally holds a little plastic baby in one of the slices. The French Club gave King Cake slices away for winners of the various games they hosted, one of the pieces holding the plastic baby. Whoever found the baby got a small prize.
“I think it’s a really fun way to get the people involved and bring some more of the authentic Mardi Gras experience to CHS,” Kwon commented.
Of course, the event preparation was not without its challenges.
“My favorite element was trying to develop the decorations for the event,” Sabicer said. “Mardi Gras is a very colorful and loud celebration so it’s been really fun, but challenging to try and replicate that in Central Quad.”
The celebration of Mardi Gras has allowed both those familiar and unfamiliar with the event the chance to experience a central part of French culture. Thank you to the French Club for hosting such a wonderful celebration – CHS hopes to have it happen again next year.
