Plastic beads and moon pies will be flying all day on the Alabama coast.
Parades began in the morning and are scheduled to go into the night in Mobile and Baldwin counties for Fat Tuesday.
Rain is in the forecast, but organizers say the celebration will continue unless the weather turns severe.
Six parades are scheduled in Mobile, home of the nation's oldest Mardi Gras festivities. The beach cities of Gulf Shores and Orange Beach also have parades.
Fat Tuesday marks the end of the Mardi Gras season and the beginning of the Christian season of Lent, which leads to Easter.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.