Gallery
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
 |  |
IRED 320 Assignment For a large part of Louisiana, this isn’t the true Mardi Gras. We’re talking about local Cajun Mardi Gras—complete with a chicken chase! Cajun Mardi Gras, or Courir de Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday Run), has been a staple in southern Louisiana for hundreds of years. The tradition dates back to 17th-century Europe; Europeans who settled in the Cajun filmmaker Pat Mire gives us an inside look at the colorful, rural Cajun Mardi Gras. Every year before Lent begins, processions of masked and costumed r An all-women's group was established a few years later. The women's group does their run on Saturday before Mardi Gras and the men's run is on Mardi Gras day. [60] The capitane and co-capitanes of Tee Mamou use a special variation of the burlap whip associated with the courir. [29] The route of the courir ends in the nearby community of Iota COUNTRY MARDI GRAS – The Courir De Mardi Gras The tradition started in rural south Louisiana in the 1800’s and revived again in Mamou in the 1950’s. Today, it is practiced in several other communities throughout South Louisiana such as Hathaway, Iota, Elton, Eunice, Church Point, Iota, Carlyss, and Basile just the name a few. Yesterday, I wrote about the tradition of The Mardi Gras Run in Southern Louisiana, USA. Each town has it’s own version of The Mardi Gras Song or La Chanson de Mardi Gras. The town of Mamou, Louisiana, has a very different version of La Chanson de Mardi Gras. It’s believed to have its origins in a French song from about 400 years ago. The Mardi Gras Run – Let the good times roll! Mardi Gras, the American version of Carnival has been celebrated in South Louisiana, U.S.A., since around 1755. Mardi Gras literally means “Fat Tuesday” in French. These songs describe the characteristics and purpose of the Mardi Gras run: “We get together once a year, to ask for charity/Even if it is just a skinny chicken, or three or four ears of corn.” The song concludes with an invitation to “join us for gumbo later tonight.” In Louisiana's Cajun country, a traditional Mardi Gras is much different than what you might expect. Come along on a traditional "courir," or Mardi Gras run In addition to the run, you'll see colorful costumes, hear traditional Mardi Gras songs and taste authentic Cajun cooking. Each town’s Courir de Mardi Gras is special. In rural towns and communities like Mamou , Iota, Elton, Church Point , Faquetaigue and Soileau, you’ll find food and events more Cajun than the names of the towns. Here they are, in no special order, the Top Ten Mardi Gras Songs of Louisiana! 10) "My Feet Can't Fail Me Now" The Dirty Dozen Brass Band. 9) Carnival Time Al Johnson. 8) Big Chief Professor Longhair. IRED 320 Assignment Go to the Mardi Gras—Professor Longhair “Go to the Mardi Gras,” first recorded in 1949, by Roy “Baldhead” Byrd, also known as Professor Longhair. The definitive version was recorded in 1959 for the Ron label. Some say it’s the most popular Carnival record ever made. Fats Domino recorded it in 1956. We love the whistling. Sample lyric: A Mardi Gras Run Song from Mamou, Louisiana Yesterday, I wrote about the tradition of The Mardi Gras Run in Southern Louisiana, USA. Each town has it's own version of The Mardi Gras Song or La Chanson de Mardi Gras. For more information on Creole Mardi Gras traditions and the L'Anse de 'Prien Noir Mardi Gras (the Soileau run is an offshoot of this earlier run), see Nicholas R. Spitzer's article "Mardi Gras in L'Anse de 'Prien Noir" in James H. Dormon, ed., Creoles of Color in the Gulf South (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1996), 87-125. The In 2002, masked and costumed men got on their horses or roamed around on foot, chanting the Lejeune Cove Mardi Gras song for the first time in nearly 50 years. On the Saturday before Mardi Gras, this run features a traditional chicken chase, costumes, and Cajun music. Rooted in French medieval history and brought to Louisiana in the 19th century, Courir de Mardi Gras has many rituals that come together in a celebration on Fat Tuesday, sometimes referred to as “the real Mardi Gras.” The main event in a Cajun Country Mardi Gras is the traditional courir or “run” led by the capitaine of the Mardi Gras. On Mardi Gras day in Acadiana, farmstead coops and kitchens are likely to be raided by a drunken band of masked marauders on horseback out to beg for–or steal–all gumbo ingredients in sight. Rural Mardi Gras celebrations of the south Louisiana prairie differ greatly from their carnival counterparts in New Orleans or even Lafayette. It's a squawking, flapping live chicken. Courir de Mardi Gras translates roughly as "the run of the Mardi Gras." Instead of a parade in which gifts are tossed to onlookers, in this Mardi Gras I know most of the people may have heard of the infamous “Mardi gras” festival of New Orleans. But I bet you haven’t heard of the Cajun Country Mardi gras festival known as “Courir de Mardi Gras” (roughly translates as “the run of the Mardi Gras”). This local festival is completely different from the New
Articles and news, personal stories, interviews with experts.
Photos from events, contest for the best costume, videos from master classes.
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |