![]() You might meet a local who has come here every single week since he turned 18, a retired accordion player who is enjoying the chance to sit back and let someone else take the wheel, or a traveler from Nova Scotia who has come to soak up Acadiana culture. Today, it will take a squeezed-in jig to make your way to the bar, but the Bloody Mary and the company will be worth it. Open since 1948, the bar has maintained its status as an icon in Mamou, opening only once a week on Saturday mornings and hosting live Cajun bands from all over the state. Called the home of “the real Cajun Mardi Gras,” legend has it that Fred’s is where the idea for the courir in Mamou was born. Enjoy some of T-Boy’s world-famous links, then head on over to Fred’s Lounge. The only way to start off a morning in Mamou is with coffee and boudin. Bringing together tips and experiences from my own fond memories and those of friends, family, and Mardi Gras long-timers, we hope to show people from all over the state-hell, all over the world-how to come be a part of our grande fête in Mamou. Today as an adult, I join old friends and new from across the state on Mamou’s 6 th Street for a weekend of dancing, food, friendship, and celebration of life. As a child, my dad, once a rider himself, would hoist me on his shoulders so I could watch wide-eyed as the Cajun joie de vivre took over the riders’ colorfully clad bodies in a mesmerizing performance unlike any other. In return, they proffer a dance to a lively concert of accordions, fiddles, and washboards. ![]() ![]() The courir de Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday Run,” is characterized by costumed revelers on horseback traveling across the countryside, gathering the ingredients (chicken, some rice) for an enormous communal gumbo. On Mardi Gras in the rural prairies of Louisiana, just over a hundred and fifty miles from the balls and krewes of New Orleans, the descendants of French Acadian immigrants annually embark on the noble quest of begging. Some elements of Courir de Mardi Gras are more raucous than others, but it remains a formative tradition for young Cajuns. ![]()
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