Laissez les bon temps rouler, Bay Area

Carnaval San Francisco, as immortalized by yours truly in
2007, won't be for several months, but there is plenty to do
Tuesday for Mardi Gras. All rights reserved, Todd R. Brown.

That headline is French for "let the good times roll," but I likely didn't have to tell you that, Left Coast hipsters.

Tuesday is Mardi Gras in those Latinate locales that celebrate the wanton holiday before a period of atonement beginning Ash Wednesday.

Locally, I found a few things to do to celebrate Fat Tuesday, which as frequent readers know has a special place in my "wish I was in New Orleans" heart.

In downtown San Jose, according to a Mercury News article, the cops are ready to rain on the drunken parade should things get out of hand at bars and clubs that have adopted the day before Lent as a time to pour fast and furiously.

Previously, such informal celebrations have led to "car tipping, rock throwing, vandalism and stabbings," the Merc reporter said. We'll see what happens manana.

In "The City," the Extra Action Marching Band heads up a concert bill Tuesday night at a Mardi Gras ball at The Independent in the Fillmore District. Check out the band in full kinesis:

In the East Bay, there will be an all-day Mardi Gras parade in Berkeley that triangulates at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday in People's Park; you can get details and check out pictures from previous parades here.

For a do-it-yourself Mardi Gras experience, the San Francisco Chronicle published a list of thematic Mexican recipes, including something zesty called Vuelve a la Vida, which sounds a little risque to my Protestant-raised ears.

Of course, the crowning event for Bay Area Mardi Gras fans won't take place for several months, when better weather will allow greater comfort in skimpy, Brazilian-style carnival costumes.

The annual Carnaval San Francisco parade and festival typically occur in late May in the Mission District. Several photos of the 2007 event by yours truly are floating around the official Web site, including the one above of some flamboyant femmes.

Enjoy!

For more info: A detailed history of Mardi Gras in New Orleans is here. Lessons on the other grand Mardi Gras celebration in our hemisphere, in Rio, are here. For shameless self-promotion, here's another couple of my Carnaval pics.

Find more self-promotion at my Examiner.com blog.