What calendar date starts the New Orleans Carnival season?

The New Orleans Carnival season starts on January 6, the Christian feast of Epiphany.

In New Orleans, January 6 is commonly called Twelfth Night and marks the opening of the Carnival calendar. Epiphany falls after the Christmas season and begins the stretch of celebrations that continues until midnight before Ash Wednesday, when Lent begins.

The date has been recognized as the start of the city’s Carnival season since at least 1900. The Twelfth Night Revelers, New Orleans’ second-oldest krewe, have held a parade and masked ball on January 6 since 1870, helping establish the date’s importance in local tradition.

A frequent technical mix-up concerns the name Twelfth Night. In strict Christian usage, Twelfth Night is the evening of January 5, the eve of Epiphany; in New Orleans, the term is often used for the January 6 celebration itself. Carnival events then build toward Mardi Gras, whose date changes each year because it is tied to Easter and the lunar calendar.