Mardi Gras will return to the Historic Galveston Strand District in 2022 for the 111th annual celebration following cancellation in 2021.
After being canceled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Galveston Island’s 111th Mardi Gras celebration will return to the Historic Galveston Strand District in 2022 from Feb. 18 through March 1. Mardi Gras! Galveston, the third largest Mardi Gras celebration in the United States, is expected to draw more than 350,000 attendees for two weekends of live concerts, parades, balcony parties, elegant balls and new festive additions.
Tickets are now on sale at https://www.mardigrasgalveston.com/ for general weekend admission and balcony access. Musical headliners have also been finalized for the festival’s concert lineup. These include 3 Doors Down, Matt Stell and Siggno.
3 Doors Down, the six-time platinum-selling rock band from Mississippi, will headline the festival’s first day of concerts on Saturday, Feb. 19. Superstar Tejano group Siggno will headline Fiesta Gras!, Mardi Gras! Galveston’s annual celebration of Hispanic Heritage, on Sunday, Feb. 20. Arkansas-born country artist Matt Stell will kick off the second weekend of festivities with a headlining set on Friday, Feb. 25.
A portion of the festival’s proceeds will once again benefit charitable causes such as The Sunshine Kids, Shriners Hospital for Children, Galveston Education Foundation, Texas A&M Maritime Academy and local firefighters. New for 2022, festival organizer Yaga’s Entertainment has launched “Beads for Needs”, a bead recycling program whose goal is to get Mardi Gras beads out of the trash while giving students from Ball High School’s Life Skills Program the opportunity to build a business from the ground up and become self-sufficient.
Finally, submissions are open for the SC Inman Mardi Gras! Galveston 2022 Official Poster Contest. The poster contest is an annual artistic competition open to any US citizen 16 years or older. Contestants are asked to submit an official Mardi Gras! Galveston poster design. The winning poster will be reproduced as a commemorative poster to be released as part of Mardi Gras! Galveston 2022. The winning artist will receive a $1,000 award. If the winning artist is a high school student, the student will receive a $500 award, and their high school art department will receive a $500 award. Submissions will be accepted
until Jan. 13, 2022.
Media Resources: Images and B-Roll can be found at www.visitgalveston.com/media
ABOUT MARDI GRAS! GALVESTON
Mardi Gras, the traditional festival of feasting and merrymaking that precedes the season of Lent, was first publicly observed on Galveston Island in 1867. Following a sabbatical imposed in 1941 by war and challenging times, Mardi Gras! Galveston was revived in 1985 by Galveston-born preservationist and developer George P. Mitchell. The largest celebration of its kind in Texas and the third largest in the nation, Mardi Gras! Galveston brings the island’s streets to life with parade viewers shouting for beads, lively tunes played by the colorful marching bands, and the infectious merriment that dominates the island for two full weeks. The Island’s 111th annual Mardi Gras celebration, to be held Feb. 18 to Mar. 1, 2022, is expected to draw more than 350,000 attendees. For more information, visit https://www.mardigrasgalveston.com/.
ABOUT YAGA’S ENTERTAINMENT, INC.
Yaga’s Entertainment, Inc. was created in 2010 to produce special events that would benefit the Downtown Strand Historic District of Galveston Island during historically poorly attended weekends. These events, including Mardi Gras! Galveston and the Galveston Shrimp Festival, are produced by a coalition of hoteliers, restaurateurs, and retailers along with coordinated community assets. For more information, email info@yagaspresents.com or call (409)-770-0999.
ABOUT GALVESTON ISLAND
Galveston Island is a historic beach town located on the Gulf of Mexico just 50 miles from Houston. The island is best known as a vacation destination, offering 32 miles of beaches, a variety of family attractions, Texas’ premier cruise port and one of the largest and well-preserved concentrations of Victorian architecture in the country, including several National Historic Landmarks. Galveston Island is the birthplace of Juneteenth and home to popular amusements such as Moody Gardens and Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark, as well as a variety of museums and recreational activities from surfing to birding. For more information on Galveston Island go to www.visitgalveston.com or call 1-888-GAL-ISLE.
