Le Vieux Mardi Gras de Cajuns de Eunice

Dating back to the city’s earliest days in the late nineteenth century, Eunice’s Courir de Mardi Gras features riders on horseback in masks, conspiring in chicken-chasing, revelry, general silliness, and an effort to make a community-wide gumbo. While this tradition typically expands into a five day celebration of street dances, cooking demos, a boucherie, and a parade through downtown—safety precautions this year mean the tradition is stripping itself down to the heart of the matter: the courir! Participating runners were vetted through a highly selective process (How much respect do you have for the tradition? How legit is your capuchon?) and the courir will be limited to the rural routes outside of town. If you know where to go (you can always contact the leaders at eunice_mardigras@yahoo.com), you can find a spot to sit on your tailgate to view the shenanigans. Most updated details at facebook.com/eunicemardigras.