In Lebanon, Mardi Gras is actually Mardi Dimanche and they have a festival called
where they paint themselves black, red and blue (<--see! not racist!) and parade around in random costumes, such as devils, ghouls or maybe just a chef's hat. But after that, it starts making less and less sense. The parade ends at the coast, where they all jump in the Mediterranean and wash the paint as a symbolic baptism/rebirth thing.