The Krewe of Zulu has become famous for handing out Mardi Gras coconuts in lieu of beads. The practice ceased briefly in the 1980s due to liability concerns--no insurance company would cover Zulu, fearing that an errant coconut might dent a reveler's skull. Zulu leaders appealed to the Louisiana state legislature, pointing out that beads and other Mardi Gras trinkets were exempted from liability laws. In 1987, then-Governor Edwin Edwards signed the "Coconut Bills", adding Zulu's heavy, oblong handouts to the list of exemptions.

Neither Prohibition nor the Great Depression nor Hurricane Katrina canceled Mardi Gras, but all activities did cease from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.

Rex and his Queen preside over the Rex Ball, Carnival's glittering conclusion.

"If Ever I Cease to Love" was popular in the Victorian music venues during the 1870s. In 1872, it was played during the very first Rex Parade and has since been adopted as the anthem for Mardi Gras.

Each year during Mardi Gras, approximately 1.4 million visitors take to the streets of New Orleans to participate in the city's iconic Fat Tuesday parades and festivities.