By Juliana Octavini
Universal Orlando Resort has released the full program Mardi Gras 2025, which happens between the days 1 February to 30 March 2025 at Universal Studios, as we have announced IN THIS POST HERE.
Mardi Gras is a traditional celebration that takes place before Lent begins and is very popular in places like New Orleans, in the United States, and in some regions of Europe. Let's say he's very similar to the Brazilian carnival, with parades of floats, lots of music and elaborate costumes.
This year, the event celebrates its 30 years in the park with a special program with live shows, parades and a lot of gastronomy.
Live shows gather international music names
Mardi Gras 2025's show schedule brings together a number of the world's most popular musical artists – including Grammy T-Pain's winning artist, superstar Joe Jonas, and Latin Grammym winner Juanes. All shows take place at Music Plaza Stage, within Universal Studios, after the Mardi Gras parade and on selected nights. Trusts below the show schedule:
Parades feature six new floats
This year, Mardi Gras has parades of six new floats that, on selected nights, will delight the public. Check below the map of the places where the night parades take place.
You have two ways to participate in the parade: as a Bead Catcher (mance picker) or Bead Thrower (mance launcher). What do you mean, Ju? Calm down, I'll explain!
One of the traditions of Mardi Gras (especially New Orleans) are necklaces of beads made of plastic and vibrant colors. Normally, in this event, the purple colors (which symbolize justice), green (which symbolizes faith) and gold (which symbolizes power) are used. During the parades, these necklaces are thrown to the public as a way to interact and engage the spectators.
So during the parade, you can participate both on top of the floats throwing the necklaces, and catching them in the middle of the audience. It is worth remembering only that to be a pitcher it is necessary to subscribe to the official Universal app Orlando on the day of his visit to the park because the vacancies are limited.
More live performances and food stalls
In addition to all this programming at the French Quarter Courtyard in the New York area, you can still enjoy more live music while strolling around food and drink stalls, as well as being able to take pictures with amazing and fun Mardi Gras artists.
How to participate in Mardi Gras
You know what's cool? That Mardi Gras is an event that is already included in your regular park ticket, which means you don't have to pay anything more for it!
And it's not over! You can still go on all the toys until the park closes! There's one more reason why you shouldn't miss Universal Mardi Gras!
Extra tips and recommendations
- Considering that Mardi Gras is a very popular event at Universal and therefore brings together a large number of people, it is very common that during the event days the park is more crowded.
- Participating in the parade as a Bead Thrower is well run. Therefore, it is necessary to keep an eye on the Universal app to verify the moment when they open the registrations.
- Both forms of parade participation (Bead Catcher and Bead Thrower) are fun and you can participate in both, going one night as pitcher and the other as catcher. Keep in mind only that, as a pitcher, you will have to wait for the parade to finish to leave the float and it may mean arriving with a certain delay to the shows if you want to watch them.
- As catcher, the best place to watch the parades is in the Hollywood area, where the parade begins and ends. Another site is the New York area, just after Finnegan's Bar & Grill.
- About the shows... come early to ensure a good place! Ideally, it's about 2 to 3 hours before the start of the show (yes... I'm saying it's well run!). The lawn area fills up quickly.
- You're in line, you can't go out and beat that hunger? Don't worry! Through Universal's app, you can order food and the staff can take it to you! Awesome, huh?
- If you would like to enjoy a treat and attend some presentation at the French Quarter Courtyard, I recommend getting there early to pick up a bench or table, as this area usually gets a little crowded at night, especially when the parade time approaches.
For more information on Mardi Gras, I recommend checking Universal's official website, CLICKING HERE. And don't forget: if you participate in this year's Mardi Gras, take your photos and share on social networks using hashtag #Tips of the Day To Orlando! 😉
