Photo by Cathy Smart
Bonfires on the Levee
This is, in our estimation, one in a list of thirty marvelous places, flavors, events, and experiences that anyone who lives in—or loves—our part of the world should experience at least once in his or her lifetime.
Christmas Eve: As dusk settles over the communities that line the Mississippi River, fire chiefs’ signals herald the lighting of around one hundred wooden bonfires that etch the river’s course from Paulina to Reserve, stretching to infinity along the east and west bank levees.
Lighting bonfires on Christmas Eve in St. James Parish has been a holiday tradition since the 1880s, although its origin is debated. The most popular explanation is that they lit the way for PaPa Noel, the Cajun reincarnation of Santa Claus, as he paddled his pirogue to deliver gifts to good Cajun children. Others say the fires were used as navigational signals to help guide religious travelers to midnight mass. They may have celebrated Epiphany, the Twelfth Night, when Christmas trees were taken down and burned. Most likely, Marist priests who, in 1864, took over Jefferson College (now Manresa House of Retreats) in nearby Convent introduced the bonfires to the area. The Brothers built the fires on the batture next to the river to entertain their students. Why the celebration was moved from New Year’s Eve to Christmas Eve is not known.
On November and December weekends, local families still gather to build huge bonfires, and in the weeks leading up to Christmas Eve visitors take advantage of the festive atmosphere to “take it to the river,” walking the levees, eating good food, and enjoying a family-style Cajun Christmas celebration.
St. James’ famous Christmas Eve bonfire tradition gets a head start the second weekend of each December with an annual Festival of the Bonfires. Every year the Knights of Columbus fairgrounds are the venue for three days of live entertainment, a crafts show, carnival rides, plenty of food of the Cajun persuasion and, of course, a good old-fashioned conflagration with fireworks each evening at 7 pm. festivalofthebonfires.org.
