Church Point, Louisiana Mardi Gras parade, Sunday February 7, 2016.
Most of the parades are on Fat Tuesday, which is a state holiday. The parade in Church Point is a popular small town celebration held on Sunday afternoon, a good thing for us who have employers in Georgia and do not have a holiday on Tuesday.
We got there for the downtown parade which was scheduled for 1 p.m. But the day started out early for the 'revelers' who were participating in the Traditional Cajun Courir de Mardi Gras Run, going out on horseback through the countryside and farms to gather ingredients for the community gumbo pot. Well that is the tradition anyway, I did not see a pot of gumbo, and I am inclined to think it is just for fun. They sing and play the traditional Mardi Gras song - La Chanson de Mardi Gras
which you can listen to HERE.
The big cities have their celebrations with Kings and Queens and galas and balls, keeping the traditions of the royalty and upper class Mardi Gras celebrations. But the rural areas keep the traditions alive of the French peasants, who made their costumes of feed sack cloth. The capuchon (tall hats) were made to mock the nobility.
I loved seeing the horses, the colorful costumes, the decorated floats which were pulled by farm tractors or trucks. Everyone was having a great time, lots of alcohol going down, but it was overall a nice family-friendly atmosphere.
more pictures HERE
