Mardi Gras: Eat, Drink, Flip Pancakes?

Whether you call it Fat Tuesday, Fastnacht Day, Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras or something else entirely, Georgetown and the D.C. region have plenty of options to indulge and celebrate before the Christian fasting season of Lent begins Wednesday.

Georgetown and beyond

Bayou: Live music and authentic New Orleans-style cuisine will make you feel like you're on Bourbon Street instead of Pennsylvania Avenue. Beginnning at noon there is an all-day buffet, $25 all you can eat/listen. 2519 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

Georgetown Tobacco: Celebrate in style with an authentic Venetian Carnival Mask. The hand-crafted masks are straight out of Italy and made by Franco, a member of the Venice Painters Guild. Pick up in store or online: gttobacco.com. 

Washington National Cathedral: The annual Shrove Tuesday Pancake Race will be a sight to behold Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 12:15 on the grounds of the cathedral. Teams from the athedral and its campus partners will race around the campus, flipping pancakes to celebrate the British tradition of “Pancake Day." The prize is the golden skillet.

Clarendon-Courthouse Mardi Gras Parade: The 15th annual Clarendon-Courthouse Mardi Gras Parade kicks off at 8 p.m. Tuesday along Wilson Boulevard. The event, which bills itself as "the Washington area's largest Mardi Gras celebration," is free.