This Day in History: New Orleanians <br />Take to the Streets for Mardi Gras February 27, 1827 Groups of masked students danced in the streets, marking the beginnings of the <br />city's Mardi Gras celebrations. The Mardi Gras celebration <br />was brought to the region by French <br />settlers towards the end of the 1600s. By the time students in <br />New Orleans danced in the <br />streets in costumes and masks, the celebration of Carnival <br />had been popular in Mobile, AL, <br />for more than 100 years. The New Orleans student<br />celebrations were inspired by their Paris studies. Within five years, a French plantation <br />owner had begun raising money <br />to fund the celebration. The first fully organized <br />Mardi Gras occurred in 1857.
