Hastings Fat Tuesday Music Festival: 13th to 17th of February 2026 is back next week, and it's time to celebrate again Britain's largest
Mardi Gras in Hastings! The full details of events can be found at the
website. As usual I'll share details and notes here about the history of
Mardi Gras itself. The festival encompasses numerous venues across Hastings throughout the 5 days of the festival until culminating on the evening of
Shrove Tuesday/
Pancake Day/
Fat Tuesday/
Mardi Gras/whatever 🎶 Tuesday the 17th of February, for the
Fat Tuesday Tour 2026, with partying and music galore from 24 established acts at 12 venues plus!
Mardi Gras, New Orleans, Spectacle!
OK, we may not be as spectacular as
Mardi Gras in
New Orleans (
website) which has been going since 1703, originally 60 miles south of New Orleans, at
Point Du Mardi Gras, where French explorers landed a few years earlier, on the day of
Mardi Gras, the 2nd of March 1699.
New Orleans was established in 1718, with
Mardi Gras regularly celebrated there by the 1830s, and by 1875, large floats were being built in New Orleans to celebrate the festival, the year it became a legal public holiday.
Rio de Janeiro Carnaval, Glamour!
Or as glamourous as Carnaval in
Rio which has been celebrated, initially with feasts, since the 17th century. Masquerade balls became popular in the 19th century, but in the early 20th century the culture of African music and dance, introduced by freed slaves and their children, was enveloped within Portuguese
Rio de Janeiro, then was founded the dance style of
Samba (
Sambassadorsofgroove).
Mardi Gras was now celebrated in
Rio together with the development of Samba schools in the 1920s (there are about 200 schools in existence now) the
Carnaval (Portuguese for Carnival) festival became centred on the parade of the
Samba schools and the glamour that was introduced, and since 1933
Rio Carnaval has become the largest
Mardi Gras festival in the World, with 2 million people participating every year.
We may not have as much spectacle and glamour as New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, although there will be plenty of dressing up, be assured of that, and Mardi Gras and Carnaval have been going considerably longer than Fat Tuesday in Hastings, but we do have free live music galore and we party, this is Hastings!
Whichever events you attend, do enjoy our Mardi Gras and have fun!
