Mardi Gras starts in mid-January and ends on Fat Tuesday, February 21.

Just because you can’t make it to New Orleans, doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate Mardi Gras! The carnival holiday is marked with parades and celebrations, ending abruptly with the beginning of lent on Fat Tuesday.

One of the best ways to enjoy Mardi Gras at home is by eating King Cake. The wreath-shaped cakes are made with cinnamon streusel dough and can be filled with cream cheese, praline, and fruit fillings. The cake is covered with and sprinkled with purple, green, and gold sugar. Somewhere inside each cake is a bean or figurine that is said to bring luck to whoever finds it.

Here are five local bakeries in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia where you can pick up an authentic King Cake for your Mardi Gras party:

Great Harvest Bread Co. - Maryland and Virginia

Great Harvest Bread Co. is a chain of bakeries with locations in Maryland and Virginia. Each week through February 21, you can get King Cakes and King Cake muffins for Mardi Gras. Fruit-filled and chocolate-filled versions are available starting from $28. Each cake comes with a plastic baby, Mardi Gras beads, and doubloons. King Cake muffins come in raspberry and cinnamon chips and are decorated with traditional icing and colored sugar. Mardi Gras goodies must be ordered ahead of time and are only available Thursday through Sunday

Touchet Touchet Bakery - Columbia, Maryland

Touchet Touchet is a neighborhood bakery in Columbia, Maryland, that makes beautiful cakes and cupcakes, cookies, and pastries. The bakery makes traditional cakes for Mardi Gras, which come in a decorative box with beads, coins, and a plastic baby. Touchet Touchet also has cookies and cakes decorated with traditional holiday colors and symbols like Fleur De Lis and horseshoes. Place your order ahead of time to insure availability.

Heidelberg Bakery - Arlington, Virginia

This German bakery in Arlington, Virginia, bakes fabulous European-style bread and bakery goods for all occasions. Heidelberg’s King cake is made with raisins, nuts, and dried fruits and topped with Mardi Gras decorated fondant. The baby is baked inside this one so watch out! Best of all, you can Heidelberg Bakery offers through April so you can still get one if you're late to the game.

Dauphine’s - Washington, D.C.

If you’re in D.C., stop at Dauphine’s and get a cake made for a King. The New Orleans-themed restaurant and bar is offering two divine King Cakes for Mardi Gras—a bananas foster version and a classic one. The cakes are available in mini and regular sizes and each one has a custom-made charm or "feve" created by local artist Material Things. Minis are priced at $25 and the classic is $50.

Bayou Bakery - Arlington, Virginia

Created by chef avid Guas, Bayou Bakery is the place to go in Arlington, Virginia, for Louisiana-inspired entreés and baked goods. Each year, the bakery offers up fresh baked King Cakes with cream cheese filling and lemon-vanilla icing. Each cake serves 14–16 people and can be purchased through Fat Tuesday. Bayou Bakery also sells an at-home party kit, "Mardi Gras in a Box." The kit has everything you need for an authentic New Orleans experience, including a hurricane drink mix, party favors, a murder mystery game, and a King Cake decorating kit.