Carnival Date Calculator (When Is Carnival and Mardi Gras?)

How it works

Easter Sunday E (Gregorian computus, Meeus/Jones/Butcher algorithm) · Ash Wednesday = E − 46 days · Mardi Gras / Carnival Tuesday = E − 47 · Carnival Monday = E − 48, Sunday = E − 49, Saturday = E − 50 · Fat Thursday = E − 52

Carnival is the festive season that ends the day before Ash Wednesday, when the 40 days of Lent begin before Easter. Because Easter is the first Sunday after the ecclesiastical full moon on or after March 21, Carnival moves between early February and early March. The main days — from Saturday to Tuesday (Mardi Gras, Shrove Tuesday or "Martes de Carnaval") — are shared by the big carnivals of Rio de Janeiro, Barranquilla, Oruro, Mazatlán, Veracruz, Venice, Cologne and New Orleans, though some start earlier or, like Cádiz, continue for an extra weekend.

Worked example

Easter 2027 is Sunday, March 28, 2027. Counting back, Ash Wednesday is 46 days earlier, Wednesday, February 10, so Carnival Tuesday (Mardi Gras) is Tuesday, February 9, 2027, Carnival Monday is February 8, Sunday February 7 and Saturday February 6, and Fat Thursday is February 4. The main Carnival weekend of 2027 runs from Saturday, February 6 to Tuesday, February 9.

Sources: Meeus, Astronomical Algorithms, ch. 8 — Date of Easter · Encyclopaedia Britannica — Carnival

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