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New Orleans Mardi Gras: Fat Tuesday events in Melbourne

Veda Gilbert

Girl with the Gris Gris at Ding Dong Lounge is hosting a New Orleans-inspired buffet.
Girl with the Gris Gris at Ding Dong Lounge is hosting a New Orleans-inspired buffet.Kristoffer Paulsen

Though celebrated the world over, Mardi Gras is synonymous with New Orleans. The festival, held on "Fat Tuesday", 47 days before Easter, is about excess and enjoying the finer things in life before the fasting period of Lent. Revellers are encouraged to dress in flamboyant costumes and adorn themselves with beads.

This year Melbourne will host not one but three Mardi Gras-inspired events, costumes optional.

Michael Cotter, of Louisiana-style food truck Gumbo Kitchen, brings his version of New Orleans Mardi Gras with the fourth annual Fat Tuesday Southern Food and Music Festival. Chris Weysham of Girl with the Gris Gris, and Chris Terlikar of Bluebonnet Barbecue join the line-up, offering Southern fare such as andouille sausage po'boys and 14-hour smoked black angus beef brisket.

The Mardi Gras Festival brings the sounds and flavours of New Orleans to Melbourne.
The Mardi Gras Festival brings the sounds and flavours of New Orleans to Melbourne.Supplied
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Festivities kick off at 5pm, when revellers can join a traditional New Orleans second-line brass band through the streets of Carlton North before settling in at Hardy Gallagher Reserve and feasting on chicken and smoked sausage gumbo. Sip New Orleans craft beers from Abita Brewery, and craft West Winds Gin cocktails with a musical accompaniment as Adam Rudegeair, Horns of Leroy, Jules Boult and the Le Blanc Brothers play classic New Orleans sets until 10pm.

In another Fat Tuesday event, New Orleans devotee Jess Pryles, aka Burger Mary, joins Fancy Hank's to present a Cajun-inspired Mardi Gras dinner. Fancy Hank's will replace its Carolina-style whole hog with a New Orleans cochon de lait; the tender suckling pig served with shrimp grits, fried okra and other Cajun-inspired sides. Finish with Doughboys Doughnuts' interpretation of the king cake, a classic Mardi Gras dessert. Tickets are $50 and include two cocktails.

New Orleans native Weysham throws a Mardi Gras smorgasbord buffet and party on Thursday, February 19, at Ding Dong Lounge. The spread includes traditional Creole and Cajun fare from the adjoining Girl with the Gris Gris kitchen, including spinach madeleine crab dip, seared scallops with watermelon jalapeno broth and Creole caponata. Tickets are $45 and include the all-you-can-eat buffet, live entertainment and a New Orleans-themed cocktail on arrival. While dressing up is not compulsory, the prize of dinner for two and a show for best costume is a great incentive.

Fat Tuesday Southern Food and Music Festival, February 17, 5pm-10pm, Hardy Gallagher Reserve, Princes Park, Carlton North, free entry.

Cajun Mardi Gras dinner, February 17, 7pm-11pm, Fancy Hank's BBQ, 456 Queen Street, Melbourne.Bookings: eventbrite.com.au

Mardi Gras smorgasbord and buffet, February 19, 7pm, Ding Dong Lounge, level 1, 18 Market Lane, Melbourne. Bookings: dingdonglounge.com.au

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