Mardi Gras in Mobile, Alabama is the oldest annual Carnival celebration in the United States, having begun in 1703, 15 years before New Orleans was founded in 1718. The festival was a French Catholic tradition, reflecting the French colonial status of the first capital of La Louisiane. Settlers celebrated until midnight on Mardi Gras (French for "Fat Tuesday"), before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Carnival and Mardi Gras in Mobile have evolved into a citywide multi-week celebration across the spectrum of cultures. The city has declared official school holidays for the final Monday and Tuesday (some include Wednesday), regardless of religious affiliation. Although Mobile has traditions of secret mystic societies, who hold formal masked balls and create elegant costumes, the celebration has evolved over the past three centuries to showcase public parades where members of societies, often masked, go through the streets on floats or horseback. They toss gifts, called "throws", to the general public.