Whether you call it Mardi Gras, Carnival or Fastelovend – at this time of the year, people gather from New Orleans to Nice, Rio de Janeiro to Cologne, and Venice to Tarragona to party in joyous ways.
As the tradition marks the last opportunity to celebrate before the beginning of Lent, people throughout the world enjoy colorful parades, throw elegant masked balls, dress in elaborate costumes and indulge in delicious delicacies.
What would Carnival mean without its quintessentially colorful sites, exciting sounds and wonderful scents? Thanks to the polymers, chemicals and fuels produced by LyondellBasell, the customs always excite and live on.
Decorating parade floats is much easier with paint produced with our ethylene glycol and plastic skirting and streamers made with our polyolefins.
The traditional "throws," such as plastic cups and beaded necklaces, are tossed by revelers from parade floats into the gathered crowds. The cups are made with our polypropylene and styrene monomer, which the popular beads are also produced with. And of course, our fuels keep the action moving along.
Watching these events, it is worth noting that the costumed characters are much more beautiful due to the cosmetics, fabrics and other materials formulated from our wide range of chemicals and polymers.
In addition, a tasty part of these celebrations are the thousands of "King Cakes," which are baked at Carnival time. They are tastier and fresher because they are packaged with protective film produced using our polyolefins. Predominantly a New Orleans tradition, the cakes were originally introduced to the United States from France and are named for the three kings who visited Jesus at his birth.
When the party is over, you can count on industrial cleaning products based on our ethanol glycol to make the clean-up easier. In the end, a terrific time is had by all.
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