The Gulf Coast will officially change from the holiday season to Carnival season on Monday, Jan. 5, with the celebration of Twelfth Night beginning at the Biloxi Visitors Center and parading to the Mardi Gras Museum.
“The Biloxi Visitors Center is where we began the holiday season, with the lighting of the decorations at the Biloxi Lighthouse,” said Visitors Center Manager Bill Raymond, “and this will be where we also will end the holiday season as we usher in the Carnival season.”
The occasion also serves as reminder of the religious significance of Carnival, often lost on the tens of thousands of revelers at Mardi Gras parades. Twelfth Night, the 12th day from Christmas, is the night before the Epiphany, the day when the three wise men visited the infant Jesus, foretelling the revelation of God the Son being born as a human.
The Twelfth Night gathering will begin at 5 p.m. at the Visitors Center, and at 6 p.m., the reigning Royal Court of Gulf Coast Carnival Association will be presented to extinguish the Christmas lights at the Biloxi Lighthouse.
The entourage will then board a float and parade to the Mardi Gras Museum, where, at 6:30 p.m., the lights at the Mardi Gras Museum will be illuminated, signaling the beginning of Carnival season.
See photos from the 2013 Twelfth Night
News and notes
Council meeting: The Biloxi City Council will meet this afternoon at 1:30 at Biloxi City Hall. Councilmembers will get an update on construction at MGM Park and consider an ordinance to prohibit the throwing of objects at parade floats or at parade participants. To see the complete agenda and supporting documents, click here.
Municipal holidays: Â Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of New Year’s Day; however, the Biloxi Visitors Center will remain open both days.
NYE preview: For a look at events taking place on New Year’s Eve and into the weekend, click here.
Road work: Remember that a record level of infrastructure work is now underway on streets in Biloxi, particularly in east Biloxi, forcing lane closures and detours. To see the status, as compiled by the Biloxi Public Works Department, click here.
