Mardi Gras

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  • Les Vues Free Film Series: All on A Mardi Gras Day

    Vermilionville - Performance Center

    Les Vues, the free film series at Vermilionville is back! Our first selection for 2023 is a must-see. Winner of the Louisiana Filmmaker Award, Royce Osborn's All on A Mardi Gras Day tells the story of New Orleans' black carnival, from Congo Square to post-Katrina. This award-winning documentary mixes interviews with Big Chiefs, Zulu Kings and other carnival maskers with amazing archival footage and classic New Orleans music. The free film runs an hour, and after the film, Alton "Tiger" Armstrong will speak on his experiences as Big Chief of the Lafayette Mardi Gras Indians.

  • Courir de Mardi Gras

    Featured
    Bayou Vermilion 300 Fisher Road, Lafayette, United States

    Come out to Vermilionville to experience a traditional Mardi Gras run Sunday, February 4, 2024. The whole family can participate in this interactive event where the Basile Mardi Gras Association shares in the medieval tradition of the Courir de Mardi Gras. Disguised revelers, led by Le Capitaine and singing La Chanson de Mardi Gras will make their way through the historic village begging for the ingredients to make a gumbo. The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a screening of Pat Mire's iconic Mardi Gras documentary, "Dance for a Chicken," which reveals the secrets and history of the rural Mardi Gras run or Courir. At 11 AM, musician Kevin Rees will demonstrate the use of the "Chanson de Mardi Gras," with the attendees. At 11:30 AM, the Basile Association will begin run through the historic village and will end with the famous chicken chase for children. After the "run", grab a delicious lunch at Vermilionville's restaurant, then join us in the dancehall for live music from the Pine Leaf Boys, 1-4 PM. King Cake tasting and cooking demonstrations will be done in our Cooking School, and kids can make a capuchon, or traditional pointed hat. This is one historic […]

  • Les Vues January — Dance for a Chicken

    Vermilionville 300 Fisher Road, Lafayette, LA, United States

    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 revelers, often on horseback, go from house to house gathering ingredients for communal gumbos in communities across rural southwest Louisiana. The often-unruly participants in this ancient tradition play as beggars, fools, and thieves as they raid farmsteads and perform in exchange for charity or, in other words, "dance for a chicken."