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Each year St. David's has a Mardi Gras celebration. Mardi Gras, is a
pre-Lenten festival most often celebrated during the three days immediately
preceding Ash Wednesday, the start of the fast of Lent. In some cultures,
celebrations begin with Epiphany and continue until Ash Wednesday. The
entire three-day period has now come to be known in many areas as Mardi
Gras. Perhaps the cities most famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations
include New Orleans, Louisiana; Venice, Italy; and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Many other places have important Mardi Gras celebrations as well. Carnival
is an important celebration in most of Europe, except in the United Kingdom
where pancakes are the tradition, and also in many parts of Latin America
and the Caribbean. These celebrations had their origins in pre-Christian
spring fertility rites. The first American Mardi Gras was celebrated near
modern-day New Orleans, in 1699.
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