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VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm FaithLapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Our program this week is about Mardi Grasand New Orleans.

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VOICE ONE:

Wild celebrations of Mardi Gras come just before the start ofLent. Lent is the Christian observance leading up to the Easterholiday. It is a serious, spiritual time.

The name "Mardi Gras" is French. It means "Fat Tuesday." Thisyear Fat Tuesday falls on February eighth.

During Mardi Gras, huge crowds fill the streets of New Orleans,Louisiana, in the southeastern part of the United States. Peoplecome to eat, drink and dance. Police are in the crowds in casethings get too wild.

Many parties and parades have already taken place by the time FatTuesday arrives.

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Many social groups hold parades. Some of the huge floats carry upto two hundred fifty people.

Riders on the parade floats wearcolorful clothes. Bird feathers top hats that stand a meter tall.Beautiful, and sometimes strange, masks cover the faces of people onthe floats. These people throw cups and necklaces to the crowds ofpeople who watch the parades. This is a tradition.

Another tradition is to eat "King Cake." This food, similar to asweet bread, is served at Mardi Gras parties. Inside one piece is asmall plastic baby. Whoever gets the baby must promise to hold thenext party. (MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Before Europeans arrived, several tribes of American Indianslived in what is now New Orleans. The city was established inseventeen eighteen. The Louisiana Territory was a French colonythen. The city was named for the Duke of Orleans, the ruler ofFrance at that time.

The city lies along the Mississippi River. The river flows pastuntil it empties into the Gulf of Mexico, one hundred sixtykilometers away.

VOICE TWO:

New OrleansFrench QuarterVOA photo - G. Flakus

The first area settled in NewOrleans was the Vieux Carre. This is now commonly called the FrenchQuarter. After the city was established, roads and simple houseswere built quickly. Government buildings and a church were addedaround the Place D'Armes, now called Jackson Square.

Ships brought people from Europe as well as Africa and theCaribbean. Wealthy businessmen were among the newcomers. So wereexiles, criminals -- and slaves.

The people found wetlands and difficult living conditions. Therewere clouds of mosquitoes. The insects bit people and spread yellowfever.

VOICE ONE:

Survival was a struggle. Settlers had to deal with floods,diseases and food shortages. But they stayed. And they developed asociety that was almost a copy of French culture.

In seventeen sixty-two, the people of New Orleans discovered thatthey no longer lived in a French colony. The French king had givenLouisiana to his cousin, the king of Spain.

Wealthy Spaniards continued the cultural life begun by theFrench. French and Spanish families became linked through marriage.The sons and daughters of these unions became known as Creoles.

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A fire in seventeen eighty-eight, and another fire six yearslater, left New Orleans in ashes. But the city was rebuilt. Much ofit was rebuilt in the Spanish way. Earthen bricks were covered witha mixture of lime, sand and water. The new homes had flower gardenssurrounded by walls. They had iron balconies on the upper level.

In eighteen-hundred, France secretly regained control of theLouisiana Territory. Then, three years later, France sold Louisianato the United States. Most people living in New Orleans were nothappy. They considered Americans to be people without culture.

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Americans were not welcome in the Vieux Carre. So they builttheir own New Orleans north of it. They put large, beautiful homesin what is now the Garden District.

Over time the older groups began to need the money and businessskills of the Americans. The Americans wanted the warmth and life ofthe old city. Both groups were forced to join in a continuing battleagainst windstorms, floods and diseases such as yellow fever. Soonthey developed a spirit of unity.

By eighteen forty, New Orleans was the fourth largest city inAmerica. For a time, it was the richest city in the country. It wascalled the "Paris of America."

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Rich cotton and sugarcane farmers built huge homes along theMississippi River outside New Orleans. They also kept smaller homesin the city. They stayed there while attending the opera, thetheater and festivals.

The celebration of Mardi Gras became an important social event.Through the years it got bigger and better. But high-spirited livingended with the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties. Louisianaand the other slave-holding states of the South lost the war.Federal troops from the North occupied New Orleans.

VOICE ONE:

By nineteen hundred, the city was growing again. People fromIreland, Germany and Italy had arrived. They added their culture,food and traditions to the already exciting mix.

Engineers made the Mississippi River deeper so bigger ships couldreach the city. New Orleans became a busy port. Engineers alsopumped water out of wetlands. This action denied refuge tomosquitoes and helped end the threat of deadly yellow fever.

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VOICE TWO:

By government estimates, four hundred sixty-nine thousand peoplelived in greater New Orleans as of two thousand three. In the lastnational population count, in two thousand, New Orleans wasthirty-first among cities. It lost two-point-five percent of itspopulation during the nineteen nineties, at a time when rates ofsome crimes increased. Officials say people continue to leave thecity. People in New Orleans face a number of problems. There are notenough jobs. There is not enough money for schools and roads. Thecity must also deal with a history of racial divisions. Today twoout of three people in New Orleans are black.

VOICE ONE:

Ray Nagin, an African American, was elected mayor in two thousandtwo. He started campaigns to reduce crime in the city and dishonestyin government. Recently Mister Nagin announced a plan to improvecommunities around the city.

The plan is called Neighborhood One. A main aim is to improveseven neighborhoods where thousands of buildings are in badcondition. The Neighborhood One plan would replace them withsingle-family homes. The city government would carry out the plantogether with private developers. Work would begin in small areas ofthree neighborhoods. VOICE TWO:

New Orleans faces many of the modern problems common to bigcities. At the same time, many of its citizens have fought hard tosave the beauty of its past.

The French Quarter is the oldest part of the city. It remains theheart of New Orleans. And the French Quarter is where some of thebest food -- a mix of French and Caribbean influences -- can befound.

The central business area has modern office buildings. It alsohas one of the biggest indoor sports centers in the world. Almostone hundred thousand people can watch events inside the LouisianaSuperdome.

And the city has a museum that honors the D-Day invasion inEurope by Allied forces during World War Two.

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In modern New Orleans, old paddle-wheel steamboats still travelthe Mississippi River. And old electric streetcars travel alongSaint Charles Street. They take visitors past the large homes ofearly American settlers. Nearby are the modern buildings of twouniversities: Tulane and Loyola.

VOICE TWO

In New Orleans, music spills into the streets not just at MardiGras, but throughout the year. New Orleans is known as thebirthplace of jazz. But local sounds also include Cajun and zydecomusic.

On Bourbon Street, the music and the crowds seem like a hugecelebration that never ends. The most traditional old-time jazz isplayed at Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. As they say inNew Orleans, it is the kind of jazz that gets your blood moving.

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VOICE ONE:

Our program was written by Jerilyn Watson and produced by CatyWeaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember. Join us again next week for another THIS ISAMERICA in VOA Special English.