Mardi Gras Party Ideas

If you're looking for Mardi Gras Party Ideas, you've come to the right place. Mardi Gras means “Fat Tuesday” which loosely translates to… party it up because tomorrow you have to be good. Eat all the yummy food, dance all night and enjoy a great time with friends. Add in some bright, extra bling and decor plus some fun party games and you've got yourself an outstanding party! So I've gathered some great Mardi Gras ideas and made some of my own to share. Let's get going with the Fat Tuesday Fun!

Really you could get away with hosting a Mardi Gras party with just some good food and a King Cake. But if you want to dress up your party place, get some fun decor and party games to go along with all your delicious Mardi Gras food. You can even hunt down some Cajun music and get the dancing going! Here are some of my ideas for hosting a great Mardi Gras party.

Mardi Gras Party Decor

I think the brighter and bolder, the better when it comes to Mardi Gras. The traditional colors are purple, green and yellow (or gold), so go bright and beautiful. I started with plastic table clothes for the green background. Then I picked up some balloons, crepe paper streamers, and beaded necklaces. I also cut apart a few rainbow feather boas to use just the colors I needed. Hang it all up, and let it kind of mix and mingle and you'll have yourself a festive party backdrop in no time!

Make your own Mardi Gras masks – I have a full tutorial and free templates here.

Tip: to add an easy extra touch of sparkle. Grab some gold foil ribbon and use it to accent different pieces around your party table.

Mardi Gras Party Food

There are a whole bunch of delicious Cajun and Creole recipes, many of which I've eaten but few I've made myself. So I only created a couple things for my own party set up.

Jambalaya is easy to make and you can mix in a few of your own favorite flavors if you'd like. This one-pot dish is rice and meat and peppers with some creole seasoning.

Macaroni and Cheese is at every Crawfish boil I've ever been to, so it's absolutely a must on the Mardi Gras buffet. Make class mac n cheese or your own favorite recipe. Just make sure it's good and cheesy!

Cajun Grilled Shrimp skewers is my own creation because, hello, grilled shrimp! Any excuse for grilling something on a skewer, I'm in! These are super easy to make and are definitely delicious! Check out the recipe here. If you have access to crawfish, grill them up too or host a crawfish boil! Get the recipe for Cajun Grilled Shrimp

Mini Beignet bites are another Jen Goode invention. I was just on a cruise earlier this month and enjoyed fresh beignets every night. So when I got home I had to come up with a way to feed the beignet craving. These cute little bits only take about 20 minutes to make and are full of the magic that happens when sugar and dough join forces. Get the recipe for my easy Beignet Bites.

Beignet Bites - yummy treat for your Mardi Gras Party — Beignet Bites – yummy treat for your Mardi Gras Party

More Desserts are always good. I added in some basic cupcakes with fun Mardi Gras colored sprinkles. I also whipped up some sweet biscuits topped the whipped creme and plastic babies. Weird? Yeah, a little fun because we didn't have a King Cake to hide a baby in.

Don't forget the drinks, classic Louisiana Hurricanes are the best Mardi Gras party beverage! So I created a simple, alcohol-free hurricane everyone will love. It's a lot fruity and a little bit sour… it's a perfect party punch! Get my Hurricane Mocktail recipe, it's delicious!

Add a lime to your Hurricane mocktails for extra fun

More Mardi Gras recipes to try

Red Beans and Rice
King Cake

Mardi Gras Party Games

You can't have a party without entertainment, right? I tend to focus on the food and the friends. But for those of you that love a good party game, I have a few I found I think you might like.

Unfortunately I couldn't find many games that were free. So here are some ideas for you. If you come across any freebies, I'd love to hear about them too!