We went from New Orleans, to Eunice, a small town in the Cajun area of Louisiana, that we had visited 3 yrs ago when we were here. In Eunice, for Mardi Gras, they have their own unique celebration. Early in the morning, participants in the Courir de Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday run), ride their horses out into the country and gather the ingredients for a gumbo, which gets made later in the day. They have to capture a live chicken, while running through the muddy fields (where rice, crawfish, or both are growing), as one of the ingredients. Then they parade from the edge of town through a parade route, to the community centre to make their gumbo. They throw out beads during the parade also, and they are dressed in costumes, which are layers of strips of cloth, originally meant to mock the rich. All the while, they are drinking beer and when they arrive at the parade route, some are quite incapable of ....well, much of anything!
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| dancing to the cajun zydeco music, they do a great cajun 2 step! |
We spoke to the police chief, he stopped and asked where we were from, he said the parade and antics here are like none other. They tolerate the drinking, as long as there are no displays of nudity, or disorderly behavior and no cruelty to the horses or animals. But they generally have a half dozen arrests each year. They allow this behavior until midnight, when lent starts, then all is shut down, same in New Orleans.
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| Gerry got his fix of crawfish at the outdoor festival |
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| a couple dressed in costume but not in the parade, they gave us the necklace she has on! |
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| parade |
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| parade |
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| one of the chickens |
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| another chicken and a great costume, faces covered to protect identity... |
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