Mardi Gras outside the box

             Carnival parades, balls and parties take over South Louisiana this time of year. If you’re a visitor to Lafayette wanting to experience Mardi Gras but will miss the actual dates, or perhaps want a smaller more family-friendly version, there are several events happening in the next few weeks to get you in the Mardi Gras spirit.

            Vermilionville hosts a traditional Cajun country Mardi Gras run, or Courir de Mardi Gras, on Sunday. Feb. 16, at the historic village. The Basile Mardi Gras Association will perform the courir at 11 a.m., visiting the village’s homes to beg for ingredients for a gumbo and perform Cajun Carnival traditions along the way.

Vermilionville Courir de Mardi Gras

            Other activities include a children’s capuchon (Carnival hat) workshop, a children’s courir, performances by the Pine Leaf Boys and Mardi Gras King Cake cooking demonstrations with Marie Walthers from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Vermilionville’s Cooking School.

            Admission is $5, children under 5 admitted free. For more information, visit Vermilionville.org or call (337) 233-4077. 

            Want to have a ball but don’t belong to a Carnival “Krewe” or the organization that hosts the region’s Carnival balls? The Red Hot Mardi Gras Ball is for anyone looking to attend a Carnival ball — and this event features Lafayette Mayor Joey Durel as King Cayenne I! The event will be held on Valentine’s night, Feb. 14, at The District & Event Center on Johnston Street featuring the band 5th Avenue. Tickets are $35 per person and $250 for a table, available at both locations of Schlotsky’s Deli in Lafayette. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/KreweDeBayouMardiGrasBall.

Horse Farm

            The Lafayette Farmers and Artisans Market at the Horse Farm will host “Mardi Gras at the Market” on Saturday, March 1, in honor of the Acadian Mardi Gras traditions still celebrated in south Louisiana today. The morning’s activities will include musical performances by the Cajun music group BonSoir Catin, followed by Corey Ledet and his Zydeco Band. A Creole Mardi Gras group from Lafayette will dress in traditional costume and share their group’s Carnival history and a Cajun Courir de Mardi Gras will take place at 11:30 a.m. and continue until 1:15 p.m. when the Children’s Parade approaches the nearby corner of Johnston Street and South College. (Parade parking will be available at the Horse Farm from 8 a.m.-3 p.m., weather permitting.)

            Locals and visitors are invited to dress, sing and parade with the courir revelers as they beg hosts stationed on the Horse Farm for gumbo ingredients. In keeping with the rural tradition, the prize ingredient will be a live chicken for the revelers to chase. Logan Farm’s Honey Glazed Ham will sponsor a communal gumbo sampling for all courir participants and the Children’s Museum of Acadiana will host a Mardi Gras mask decorating booth for children featuring mask templates from several Mardi Gras costume traditions. The UL-Lafayette Public History Program’s “Museum on the Move” will be parked at the Horse Farm displaying its exhibit on Louisiana woman of the 20th century. For more information, visit www.marketatthehorsefarm.com.

Cajun & Creole 101: La Boucherie and Cochon de Lait

     This Sunday, Sept. 1, 2013, Vermilionville offers a free Cochon de Lait demonstration from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. that includes a history of the cochon de lait — or hog butchering — with Vermilionville artisan Jay Steiner, who will also serve as emcee for the day. There will be demonstrations on cracklin’ and boudin making with John Norbert, a soap-making demonstration with Vermilionville artisan Greg Guidroz and a full boucherie (communal butchering) using both traditional and new age methods. 

     Samples from the boucherie will be provided as well as samples of local Parish Brewing’s new Envie ale that pairs well with the sweetness of pork. Jambalaya, boudin, cracklin’ and pork stew will be available for purchase along with soft drinks, water, beer and mixed drinks throughout the day. Live music by Horace Trahan & Ossun Express will be from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in the Performance Center.

Cajun Microwave

     Admission is free and open to all ages. 

     Schedule:

10 a.m. – 3 p.m.: Food both, pig roasting demo

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Live pig viewing, kid's activities, Cajun Microwave demo

11 a.m. – Noon: Pig’s ear cooking demo, jam session

11 a.m. – 3 p.m.: La Cuisine de Maman restaurant is open

11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Soap making demo

12:30 p.m. – 1 p.m.: Cochon de Lait history 

1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.: Parish Brewing beer tasting 

1 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Horace Trahan & Ossun Express performs

2 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Boudin making demo 

3 p.m. – 4 p.m.: Cochon de Lait tasting 

     For more information, call (337) 233-4077.

New Year’s Celebrations in Lafayette

Geno Delafose

    In South Louisiana, we know how to party so you can imagine that the New Year is brought in with a bang. Here are a few celebrations occurring this year in Lafayette and the surrounding areas.
    Zydeco extraordinaire Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie tears up the Vermilionville Performance Center on New Year’s Eve (Monday, Dec. 31, 2012) beginning at 9:30 p.m. and continuing to 12:30 a.m. at Vermilionville in Lafayette. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 and available in Vermilionville’s Gift Shop by calling (337) 233-4077.
    Grammy Award winner David Eagan performs for the New Year’s Eve crowd at Charley G’s restaurant, where a set menu and four different rounds of dinner seating will be offered. Booths in the bar are part of the reserved seating but the bar top is available on a first come, first served basis. For more information, visit http://www.charleygs.com.
    The Performing Arts Society of Acadiana (PASA) is hosting a New Year's Eve event from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday, Dec. 31, at 721 E. Kaliste Saloom Road. There will be live music by Krossfyre, food provided by local restaurants, complimentary wine, beer and frozen cosmos and a champagne toast at midnight. Cost is $100 per person. For information, call (337) 237-2787.
    Get your dancing shoes on and head over to McGee’s Landing in Henderson, about 20 minutes outside of Lafayette, for its New Year’s Eve Bash with Cajun music by Ryan Brunet, Christine Balfa and Al Berard. The music — and dancing — starts at 7 p.m. The cover charge is $10 and there will be lots of champagne.
    La Poussiere, a traditional Cajun dancehall in Breaux Bridge, presents its annual New Year's Eve Bash with Jackie Caillier, Ivy Dugas and the Cajun Cousins with special guest musicians. Tickets are $15 in advance (by Saturday, Dec. 29) and will be $20 at the door.
    New Year’s doesn’t have to mean leaving the kids at home. The Children’s Museum of Acadiana offers a New Year’s Noon Countdown & Carnival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 31 at the museum in downtown Lafayette. The cost is $6 per person and includes exhibits, confetti, cannons and prize drops. For more information, call (337) 232-8500 or visit www.cmalaf.org.

David Eagn

Cajun Jaming in Lafayette

    If you’re a musician, don’t be shy when visiting Lafayette and for goodness sakes bring your instrument. There are numerous jam sessions held every week throughout the town and visitors are always welcome to join in. And because Lafayette is the hub city for great Cajun and zydeco music, you’ll never know who might show up!

    Here is a weekly roundup of a few Jam Sessions in Lafayette and environs:
    Wednesdays — The Blue Moon Saloon & Guesthouse offers a Cajun jam session at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on the guesthouse’s back porch. The jam is open to all skill levels, entry is free and onlookers are welcomed.
    Fridays — the Begnaud House Welcome Center at 110 Benoit Patin Road in nearby Scott (right off Interstate 10) offers jam sessions starting at 6 p.m. Fridays and the place fills up with locals and visitors alike enjoying traditional Cajun music.
    Saturdays — Vermilionville offers a weekly Cajun Jam from 1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays in the historic attraction’s performance center. Special guest hosts are scheduled to lead the event; check their web site for the schedule.
    Louisiana Folk Roots offers a Jam des Amis (shown above) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. the second Saturday of the month at the Acadiana Center for the Arts in downtown Lafayette. The jam coincides with the monthly ArtWalk celebration and features hosts, such as Jimmy Breaux of BeauSoleil fame or David Greely, formerly with Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys.

Celebrating Acadian Culture

            A group of French citizens traveled from France to the New World about 400 years ago, landing in what is now northern New England and the Maritimes of Canada. These French pioneers called their new home Acadia or Acadie.

            They built dykes to hold back the massive tides from the Bay of Fundy, and they constructed forts, homes and churches. Because they were isolated in the wilderness, they became good friends with the Micmac Native Americans and developed a distinct identity. They became known as “Acadians.”

            There were constant wars between France and England in the New World, and the rich land that the Acadians farmed passed back and forth between England and France. In 1755, the English seized the farms of the peaceful Acadians, burned their villages, put them on ships and sent them all over the world. This “Grand Dérangement” lasted many years. When word that the Louisiana colony welcomed the exiles, hundreds of Acadians came to Louisiana and started life anew.

            We celebrate Acadian — or Cajun — culture all year round in Lafayette and surrounding areas but particularly during this time of year. Aug. 15 is the National Day of the Acadians, corresponding with the Catholic feast of the Assumption.

             Vermilionville of Lafayette celebrates Acadian Culture Day, a free event of music, food and fun from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12, 2012, at the historic village. This year’s event focuses on living cultures and activities planned include:

            Cooking demonstrations;

            Boat tours and canoeing;

            Artist demonstrations such as net making, bamboo fishing poles, bousillage bowls, canning, quilting and old-time washing and clothesline hanging;

            Games and crafts for children including tintamarre noise makers, kites and Acadiana flag making;

            A genealogy station by Acadian Memorial;

            Dance lessons with Cal and Lou Courville;

            Sharing circles on Cajun Women Across the Generations and Les Traiteurs;

            Film screenings of “Pie Day” by Drew Landry and “I Always Do My Collars First” by Connie Castille; and

            Music in the Performance Center by The Huval-Fuselier Cajun Band followed by Feufollet.

            For a complete list of activities, visit the calendar of events at vermilionville.org or call (337) 233-4077 for more information.

            The Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville will host a special program from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2012. Special events include:

            Table Francais for French speakers from 10 a.m. to noon;

            “From Commission to Completion: Celebrating 20 years of the Mural” with muralist Robert Dafford at 12:30 p.m. followed by Theatre Acadien reenactment performances that bring the mural characters to life;

             Film presentation and booksigning by Ron Thibodeaux, author of “Hell or High Water: How Cajun Fortitude Withstood Hurricanes Rita and Ike”;

            Genealogy workshops;

            Children’s scavenger hunt;

            Family Banner Procession; and

            Feast of the Assumption and French Mass at St. Martin de Tours Catholic Church.

            For more information, contact info@acadianmemorial.org or call (337) 394-2258.

            Also on the National Day of the Acadians — Aug. 15 — the Begnaud House in Scott will be offering a ceremony honoring Acadian ancestors beginning at 6 p.m.

            To learn more about what is Acadian and Cajun, why we have our own flag and more, visit http://www.lafayettetravel.com/essentials/culture/what-cajun.