Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras was a carnival which took place in New Orleans. Carnival-goers would wear masks and costumes.

The Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown arrived in New Orleans during the Mardi Gras festivities in 1932, where the carnival-goers were being turned into zombies. (PROSE: Mardi Gras Massacre)

The Sixth Doctor, suffering from a headache, said his head felt "like Bourbon Street after Mardi Gras." (PROSE: The Inquisitor's Story)

The Ninth Doctor tried to take Rose Tyler to see the first ever Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro, but they ended up on the shadow planetoid in the Dark Times instead. (COMIC: Monstrous Beauty)

Later, Rose was disappointed that, when the Tenth Doctor told her he had a brilliant idea, he meant stamp collecting, not something fun like going to Mardi Gras or visiting a planet where everything was made out of ice cream. (PROSE: Stamp of Approval)

In the 40th century, Jason Corey sarcastically noted that a bright light seen in the sky of M5, which turned out to be a Dalek ship, was not a result of Mardi Gras. (AUDIO: The Destroyers)

Behind the scenes
In the real world, Mardi Gras is celebrated on the same day as Shrove Tuesday.