Someone asked me over the weekend where all the big Mardis Gras parties are going to be this year. My answer: Any bar, anywhere on Tuesday night.

However. To be a bit more specific, I snooped around, and here are a few that sound very promising for letting the good times roll.

Beyond nightclub is offering prizes for whoever gathers the most beads over the evening (surely you all know how the beads are gathered — expect lots o’ flashing all night), and they’re offering an open bar for the ladies until 11 p.m. Get us gals good and tipsy, and suddenly we’re supposed to go all “Girls Gone Wild?” Hrrrmmph. Anyway — they’ll also have Hurricane specials and $2 bourbon shots all night, so this one is shaping up to be a good, wild, college-y drunkfest. Not unlike Bourbon Street, if I do say so myself.

Over at Vinyl nightclub, Tuesday nights are always ladies night, with no cover and $1 drinks until midnight, and B-52 Billiards hosts a bash with local celeb DJ Little Mike’s 3rd annual Fat Tuesday dance party.

You can’t go wrong to hit the Cajun restaurants on a night like this as well. Broussard’s Creole Cafe on Colfax is a good bet for a casual crowd, as is Bayou Bob’s or Red Fish in Boulder. The food and atmosphere are a notch above at spots like Pappadeaux and Gumbo’s, so you can find the right spot to fit your needs.

Just don’t forget to bring your appetite (and your beads). This is Fat Tuesday, after all.