When is Mardi Gras in 2027?

Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is Tuesday, February 9, 2027. It is always the day before Ash Wednesday, so the date moves each year with Easter. Carnival season runs from January 6 until Mardi Gras.

What are good Mardi Gras trivia questions for work?

Questions about history, New Orleans traditions, food and Carnival in other countries work best: everyone can play, whether or not they celebrate. This page has 40 in four rounds of 10, marked easy, medium or hard.

How many trivia questions do you need for a work event?

About 10 questions per 8 minutes. Two rounds of 10 fill a 20-minute slot in a meeting; all four rounds make a 40-minute game with scoring.

Can someone host Mardi Gras trivia for our team?

Yes. A live host runs a game show on Zoom (or Teams, Google Meet or Webex on request) and can add a New Orleans round if you ask about 4 weeks ahead. Hosted games book about 2 weeks ahead. See prices on the virtual Mardi Gras party page or ask for a free quote.

How do you play Mardi Gras trivia on Zoom?

Share your screen with the quiz on this page, put teams in breakout rooms for 30 seconds a question, and bring everyone back to reveal the answers after each round of 10.

40 Mardi Gras trivia questions and answers

Forty questions on Fat Tuesday, New Orleans and Carnival around the world, with answers. Mardi Gras 2027 is Tuesday, February 9.

KraftyLab TeamUpdated Nov 20268 min read

Start round 1or have a host run it

Coworkers around an office table playing Mardi Gras trivia, with bead necklaces and a king cake in purple, green and gold

Mardi Gras trivia is a quiz on Fat Tuesday: its history, New Orleans krewes and food, and Carnival in other countries. Here are 40 Mardi Gras trivia questions and answers in four rounds of 10, each marked easy, medium or hard. One round takes about 8 minutes, and every question is history or culture, so the whole team can play whether or not they celebrate.

Round 1: easy Mardi Gras trivia

A warm-up everyone can answer. Read these first so the whole room gets points.

1. What does “Mardi Gras” mean in English?Easy
Show the answer
Fat Tuesday (it is French)
2. Mardi Gras is always the day before which day?Easy
Show the answer
Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent)
3. What are the three official colors of Mardi Gras?Easy
Show the answer
Purple, green and gold
4. Which U.S. city throws the country's best-known Mardi Gras?Easy
Show the answer
New Orleans
5. What are the clubs that build the floats and stage the parades called?Easy
Show the answer
Krewes
6. What is the most common throw tossed from Mardi Gras floats?Easy
Show the answer
Bead necklaces
7. What is the ring-shaped cake of the Carnival season called?Easy
Show the answer
King cake
8. In the UK and Ireland, the same Tuesday has a breakfast-food nickname. What is it?Easy
Show the answer
Pancake Day (also called Shrove Tuesday)
9. By law, what must float riders in New Orleans wear on their faces?Easy
Show the answer
Masks
10. On what date is Mardi Gras in 2027?Easy
Show the answer
Tuesday, February 9

Planning the whole party, not only the quiz? Our virtual Mardi Gras party page has mask kits, music bingo and a hosted game with today's prices.

Round 2: Mardi Gras history trivia

From French explorers in 1699 to the year the parades stopped and the houses dressed up instead.

11. Which Alabama city says it held America's very first Mardi Gras, in 1703?Medium
Show the answer
Mobile
12. In 1699, French explorers camped about 60 miles south of today's New Orleans. What did they name the spot?Hard
Show the answer
Point du Mardi Gras
13. In what year did Louisiana make Mardi Gras a legal state holiday?Hard
Show the answer
1875
14. What is the Monday before Mardi Gras called?Medium
Show the answer
Lundi Gras (French for Fat Monday)
15. Which krewe, founded in 1968, was the first to put celebrities in its parade?Medium
Show the answer
Bacchus
16. Which entertainer reigned as the very first king of Bacchus, in 1969?Hard
Show the answer
Danny Kaye
17. Which New Orleans jazz trumpeter reigned as King of Zulu in 1949?Medium
Show the answer
Louis Armstrong
18. What are the walkers called who carry flaming torches to light the night parades?Medium
Show the answer
Flambeaux
19. Artist H. Alvin Sharpe created which coin-shaped throw for the Rex organization?Medium
Show the answer
The doubloon
20. With parades canceled in 2021, what did New Orleans residents decorate like floats instead?Medium
Show the answer
Their houses (nicknamed Yardi Gras)

Round 3: New Orleans traditions and food

Krewes, throws, king cake etiquette and the dishes the city is known for.

21. Which krewe's prized throw is a hand-painted coconut?Medium
Show the answer
Zulu (the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club)
22. Which krewe of women is famous for throwing hand-decorated shoes?Medium
Show the answer
Muses
23. Which French Quarter krewe parades with dogs instead of floats?Easy
Show the answer
Barkus
24. Which New Orleans singer and pianist co-founded the Krewe of Orpheus, which rolls the Monday night before Mardi Gras?Medium
Show the answer
Harry Connick Jr.
25. Which super krewe parades the Saturday night before Mardi Gras and holds its ball in the Superdome?Hard
Show the answer
Endymion
26. By New Orleans tradition, what does the person who finds the baby in the king cake have to do?Easy
Show the answer
Buy the next king cake
27. Before small plastic babies, what was traditionally hidden in a king cake?Medium
Show the answer
A bean (a fava bean, later a porcelain one)
28. Which fried pastry, buried in powdered sugar, is Louisiana's official state doughnut?Easy
Show the answer
The beignet
29. Which round sandwich with olive salad was first made at Central Grocery in 1906?Medium
Show the answer
The muffuletta
30. Many big parades roll down which avenue, home to the world's oldest continuously operating streetcar line?Medium
Show the answer
St. Charles Avenue

Want the food part to happen on camera? Our virtual tasting events ship a kit to every guest and come with an instructor.

A host running a Mardi Gras trivia round on a video call with remote coworkers, purple, green and gold beads on her desk

Round 4: Carnival around the world

The hard round: Cajun country, Brazil, Trinidad, Venice and the pastry case of northern Europe.

31. In rural Cajun Louisiana, masked riders go farm to farm on Mardi Gras gathering ingredients for which dish?Medium
Show the answer
Gumbo (the Courir de Mardi Gras)
32. What are the tall pointed hats worn by many Courir de Mardi Gras riders called?Hard
Show the answer
Capuchons
33. Black Masking Indians parade in hand-sewn suits of beads and feathers on Mardi Gras and on which Sunday near St. Joseph's Day?Hard
Show the answer
Super Sunday
34. Which city's samba schools parade through a Sambadrome designed by Oscar Niemeyer?Easy
Show the answer
Rio de Janeiro
35. Which Italian city's Carnival is famous for elaborate masks and costumes?Easy
Show the answer
Venice
36. Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival opens before dawn on Monday with an event whose name means “break of day.” What is it?Hard
Show the answer
J'ouvert
37. What almond paste and cream bun do Swedes eat on Fat Tuesday, which they call fettisdagen?Medium
Show the answer
Semla
38. Iceland calls Fat Tuesday Sprengidagur. What does that mean in English?Hard
Show the answer
Bursting Day
39. In Poland, which filled doughnuts star on Fat Thursday, the Thursday before Lent begins?Medium
Show the answer
Pączki
40. The name Shrove Tuesday comes from the old English word “shrive.” What did it mean?Hard
Show the answer
To hear confession and forgive sins

Running this as part of a culture series through the year? See our heritage month events for hosted rounds on other observances.

Play it on a shared screen

Pick a round, share this screen and click through 10 questions. Show the answer, mark it, and the last card shows the score and what your team missed.

BasicsQuestion 1 of 10 · Score 0

What does “Mardi Gras” mean in English?

Say your answer out loud, or write it down, then check it.

How to run Mardi Gras trivia at work

It works in a conference room, on a hybrid call or fully on video. You need one reader and 20 to 40 minutes.

Make teams of four to six. Tables in the office, breakout rooms on video. Each team names itself after a krewe and picks one writer.
Read one round of 10. Read each question twice and give 30 seconds. A round takes about 8 minutes, so two rounds fit a 20-minute slot.
Reveal answers after the round. Open the answers below each question, or screen-share the quiz and click Show the answer.
Hybrid: one reader for everyone. The reader shares the quiz on the call and the room's screen, and remote teams send answers in a private chat.
Score 1 point a question, 2 for a Hard one. Bead necklaces make a fine prize for the office; remote winners get bragging rights or a shout-out in the next all-hands.

For 40 or more people on video, a host keeps the rounds moving and the breakout rooms on time: see our virtual game shows, or get a free quote for your date.