Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday is the last Tuesday before Lent. It is a day of feasting. In France, it is called Mardis Gras or Fat Tuesday. In some countries, people stop eating fat during Lent. Perhaps you think fat would not be hard to give up, but fat is used to fry delicious treats, such as doughnuts. On Fat Tuesday, people use up all the fat in their cupboards. In Germany and Austria, people cook crullers in the fat. Crullers are thick doughnuts. In Finland, people cook a pancake called blini.

Some people stop eating eggs during Lent. What do they do before Lent to use up all the eggs in their refrigerator? They make pancakes! This is why Shrove Tuesday is also called Pancake Tuesday.

People who live in Olney, a town in England, celebrate this day with a special event. They have had a pancake race on every Shrove Tuesday for over 500 years. Everyone gathers in the center of town. The racers hold frying pans with hot pancakes still cooking in them. At the word "Go!" they dash to the church, flipping their pancakes as they run. They must flip them at least three times before they reach the church.