Photo by Paul Kieu.
courir de mardi gras mask acadiana noteworthy february 2020
From the rowdy courirs of the Acadian prairies to the extravagant rolling parades of St. Charles Avenue, Mardi Gras celebrations are back in a big way for 2022. Here we offer everything you need to look the part, get in the groove, and strategize your parade planning. Plus, we've curated some of our favorite Mardi Gras tales to get you in the spirit.
What to Wear
Take away the parades, and the details become all the more important. Here is our guide to ensuring you are dutifully donned this Mardi Gras season.
Courtesy of Century Girl Vintage
How to Make Your Own Courir Costume
This Mardi Gras, take your identity into your own hands.
David Simpson
Your Mardi Gras Playlist
"If you go to New Orleans, you ought to go see the Mardi Gras."
DSB NOLA
Satchmo Summerfest second line, 2011
Where the Second Lines Still Live: Mardi Gras Art to Inspire
In limited time exhibitions and year-long galleries worth visiting (or viewing online), Carnival lives in the second dimension, too. Maybe you'll even find the perfect piece to bring the festivities into your space.
Terrance Osborne: New Orleans Culture, Concentrated
Courtesy of the artist
Terrance Osborne, “Throw Me Somethin’ Mistah!,” 2020.
Electric Dreams at Gallery 600 Julia
"Endymion's Trumpet" on display at Gallery 600 Julia
Rex: The 150th Anniversary of the School of Design
Featuring over sixty extravagant costumes of New Orleans' foremost Mardi Gras krewe's kings, queens, and courtiers in a collection spanning a century, The Presbytere's exhibition Rex will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Rex Organization this year.
The Butterfly King float. Photograph by Mark J. Sindler, Louisiana State Museum.
Making Mardi Gras at the Historic New Orleans Collection
From elaborate costumes and royal finery, to festive specialty parade throws like Zulu's hand-designed coconuts, to float artists of centuries past, to roaming walking krewes, and even homebound house-float visionaries—all of the glitter, sweat, and heart that gets poured into Carnival year after year will be on display in THNOC's Tricentennial Wing.
Courtesy of the Historic New Orleans Collection
The "Making Mardi Gras" exhibition at the Historic New Orleans Collection
Spirits of the Season: Mardi Gras Cocktails
New Orleans Classic Cocktails
From bartender Matt Ray, at-home Hurricanes, Brandy Milk Punch, and Sazeracs
Beignet & Coffee Cocktail
Can you think of a better way to wake up on a Fat Tuesday morning?
Meleck Masquerade
From Branch, Louisiana, the perfect cocktail for Yardi Gras
For the Table
From our archives, a selection of Louisiana's most celebratory cuisine perfect for day-long snacking or for the kind of Mardi Gras sit down dinner you've always dreamed of but couldn't pull off because of the typical chaos.
Gumbo
Spuddy Faucheux
Restaurant R'evolution's Death by Gumbo
Spuddy's Andouille, Sausage, and Chicken Gumbo
Carolyn Shelton's Po Man's Gumbo
Charmaine Dupré's Turnip Greens Gumbo
Filé Gumbo with Chicken and Sausage
Ryan Trahan's Chargrilled Oysters
Photo by Denny Culbert.
Rappie Pie
Lucie Monk Carter
Jimbo's Jambo
Lucie Monk Carter
Fall Beer Pairings Jambalaya
Mardi Gras Mac n Cheese
Lucie Monk Carter
GW Fins' Signature Biscuits
Courtesy of GW Fins'
Alligator Étoufée
Photo by Lucie Monk Carter
Crispy Fried Oysters with MoPho Mayo
Photo by Brenda Maitland
Joey's Mama's Shrimp Grits and Catfish
Two Words: King Cake
Kings of Cake
Five Flavors to stoke your pre-Lenten indulgences
Let Us Eat Cake
In 2021, a mission to try all of the best Louisiana king cakes
Bayou Saint Cake
Alexandra Kennon
RECIPE: La Galette des Rois
A golden, flaky traditional French version of the King Cake
RECIPE: Joy the Baker's Pull Apart King Cake
Cinnamon, sugary, sinful delights
Joy Wilson at Joy the Baker
RECIPE: How to Make a Dong Phuong Style King Cake
Murmurs of Ricotta shares her easy, step-by-step recipe for brioche & butter cream King Cake, inspired by Dong Phuong Bakery's famous (sold out!) version.
Courtesy of Murmurs of Ricotta
Our Comprehensive Carnival Calendar
The only parade planner you'll ever need.
Big Easy Mardi Gras
David Thibodeaux
Mardi Gras on the Northshore
Acadiana Mardi Gras
Paul Kieu
Some elements of Courir de Mardi Gras are more raucous than others, but it remains a formative tradition for young Cajuns.
Baton Rouge Mardi Gras
Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras
LindseyJanies.com
Central Louisiana Mardi Gras
Thomas Park
North Louisiana Mardi Gras
Your Mardi Gras Reading List:
Here is some of our favorite Mardi Gras coverage throughout the years. Courirs and street dancing and big celebratory hugs may have to wait until next year, but there's some room for reliving them in our pages for now.
A Mule Fit for a King
Remembering when mules pulled the Mardi Gras parades
Courtesy of the Collections of the Louisiana State Museum, 1978. 118 (B). 07300b
Louis Armstrong as King of Zulu, with his renegade mule pictured.
Laissez les Bons Temps . . . Pause?
From our February 2021 issue, a look at New Orleans' history of canceled Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras, On Foot
Inside five of the most whimsical walking parades of the season.
Katherine Scherer
"Lion," 2018. Taken at the Society of St. Anne Parade, to be displayed as part of Scherer’s retrospective exhibition The Society of Saint Anne at the Baton Rouge Gallery this month.
The Mamou Insider
The ins-and-outs of Mamou Mardi Gras from the perspective of a native
Paul Kieu
Horseback riders in the Courir de Mardi Gras are tasked not only with chasing down understandably frantic chickens but also racing their fellow riders to the prey.
Chasse-Femme
For this woman-led Courir de Mardi Gras, Prairie des Femmes erupts in a chicken chase
Alongside Capitaine Mariah Quebedeaux and La Patrone Danielle Gee, Ashlee Michot—in a play on Lousiana French dialect and its pronunciation of the term for "wise woman" (sagefemme)—dubs herself "Chasse-Femme," which can also mean "woman hunt."
Voyage ton Flag
In the country Mardi Gras of Louisiana's southwestern prairies, the capitaine keeps the melee in check.
Paul Kieu
Capitaines, as intermediaries between the crazed group of wildly costumed merrymakers and their community, assert order over ritual chaos and are the pivot points on which the entire celebration turns.
The Mardi Gras Museum
How Lake Charles preserves its pageantry year-round
Courtesy of Visit Lake Charles
The Mardi Gras Museum contains the largest collection of costumes in the South and, unsurprisingly, takes up the entire second floor of Central School Arts and Humanities Center.
Masked Merriment
Jackie Miller makes Tee Mamou-regulation courir costumes for dozens of revelers every year
Photo by Denny Culbert
Building Mardi Gras
An inside look at a prop-shop manager's day
Photos by Mike Redaelli
Perspectives: Herb Roe
An artist who captures a Cajun tradition through classical realism
Herb Roe
In the Pink
Origins of the Spanish Town Parade
Photos by Collin Richie
Have we missed something? An event, recipe, or story? Let us know at editorial@countryroadsmag.com and we'd be happy to consider adding on to our list!
