The day before Lent begins, when the eggs and fat in the house are used up: pancakes in Britain, Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Carnaval in Rio and Venice. The last feast before the fast.
The day before Ash Wednesday, forty-seven days before Easter. February or early March.
The Phala almanac gives the exact day for your own city; the lunar and solar rules above are what it computes from.
The eggs, butter and fat in the house had to be used up before Lent began, and pancakes are what that looks like in England. Carne vale, the farewell to meat, is what carnival means.
The same need became something much larger elsewhere: Rio's samba schools, the New Orleans krewes, the masks of Venice, the Cologne street carnival. All of it is the last day before the fast.
The Phala almanac shows this day where it falls for your own city — sunrise, tithi and all five limbs, anywhere on earth. See how the almanac works →
