Courir de Mardi Gras at Eunice
Old-style country Mardi Gras traditions, live music, and so much more!
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Eunice, La Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70535
Paul Kieu
Costumed runners, also known as Mardi Gras, chase a chicken during Courir de Mardi Gras à Grand Mamou in Mamou, La., Tuesday, March 4, 2014. Participants continue the tradition of chasing chickens and traveling to local homes to gather ingredients for a community gumbo.
Eunice's Courir de Mardi Gras dates back to the city's earliest days in the late nineteenth century. Featuring riders on horseback in masks, conspiring in chicken-chasing, revelry, general silliness, and an effort to make a community-wide gumbo, this tradition has now expanded to five days of live music, street & barn dances at various venues in the area, cooking demos, exhibits, a boucherie, and a culminating chicken-run (courir) on Mardi Gras Day at 8 am. There are also special parades and runs for the children on Sunday. Far too much to list here! Find a full schedule of events at (337) 457-7389. cajuntravel.com.
Read more about the Captaines who keep Courir in check in our February 2017 feature.