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W
hen it comes to Mardi Gras in Acadiana, you’re either
an active participant or a happy spectator. In the city
of Lafayette and surrounding communities, there are
plenty of opportunities to watch floats roll by, catch beads, eat a bite
of a hundred different king cakes, indulge in a drink or two, and
end your day with live music at the Blue Moon Saloon. All of this
can be accomplished in a family friendly setting. While the parade
concept is the same as in New Orleans, the crowds are smaller and
there’s a lot less raunch. Grab your chair and ice chest and head to
Cajun Country for Mardi Gras day or the days leading up to Fat
Tuesday. If you’re more of a bead thrower than catcher, you can let
your true colors fly by marching through downtown Lafayette in
the Independent parade on Mardi Gras day.
If you’ve done the whole parade thing and looking for a totally new
life experience, head out to a Courir de Mardi Gras in one of the
rural communities surrounding Lafayette. For a good show, get to
Mamou just after sunrise and follow along as hundreds of costumed
men on horseback carry on a tradition that originated in
the French countryside. Participants go house to house
to beg for ingredients to create a community gumbo.
You’ll hear traditional Cajun tunes from the musician
wagon, witness horseback acrobatics, and laugh out
loud as the colorfully costumed men chase chickens
through the mud. Women aren’t allowed to participat
in Mamou but are welcomed as spectators on the route.
And if youwant to chase a chicken ...Eunice is the place for
you. On Mardi Gras day, there’s a large gathering of men,
women, and children all in handmade costumes ready to
dance their way to the gumbo pot.The thirteen mile route
takes you through the picturesque landscape of rural South
West Louisiana with stops along the way to dance, sing,
and collect ingredients, including live chickens.
With each of these Mardi Gras events you’ll feel the
strong sense of community and family that have been
centuries in the making. Maybe the most authentic
and welcoming (as long as you have a costume) is the
Faquetique Courir de Mardi Gras started by Joel and Wilson
Savoy in 2006. The run takes place outside Eunice and is much
smaller and a bit grittier than the main event that starts in town.
The spirit of Mardi Gras’s one day of anonymous mischief before
Lent is encouraged and strictly enforced. Participants are required
to have costumes and masks, the more homemade the better, and
are kept in line by the Capitaines who are armed with whips and
other makeshift weapons. Participants caught not wearing their
masks are punished, and of course wrestling in the mud or in a
ditch is completely acceptable. While this may sound a little rough,
it’s all in good fun and if you play by the rules you’ll be just fine.
The Savoy’s Mardi Gras is one of the most musically focused of the
courirs and you’ll find many of Acadiana’s best musicians along for
the ride. This one is a little bit harder to find than the rest, but if
you ask around in Eunice you’ll be pointed in the right direction. So
grab your capuchon (that pointy hat thing) and head out to Cajun
Country this Mardi Gras season.
My grandmother is fromEunice, but I just can't picture her chasing a chicken.
—Ali Rouse Royster
