THE REAL DEAL --- no New Orleans drunk-fest, no bead-throwing kings & queens. The rural Mardi Gras (the words also apply to the people in costume) is a long-standing tradition of rag-a-muffin costumes (though, not rags, believe me!!), songs, candy-throwing by the Mardi Gras & money-throwing by the crowd. You really have to be there to get the true feel.
The website for the Iota Mardi Gras describes the bands, the stage and the food, but nothing can describe the raw, primitive nature of the songs, the dancing (of the Mardi Gras) and crazy (almost scary-crazy) revelry of the small town participants, children & adults alike.
The children's parade is first. In costume, they cavort to & up on the stage, while being "beaten" (it's pretend) by the Capitaine. In a circle, sorta, facing in --- the performance is for themselves, not the public, we are just watchers --- the Mardi Gras sing the traditional Mardi Gras song while the crowd throws money up on the stage. The children scatter and scramble gathering as many coins as possible. Then they parade off-stage and onto wagons pulled by trucks. The wagons are open cart (see top picture) and the Mardi Gras throw candy to the crowd while dangling out the sides.
The adult parade is even crazier. After a full day in the sun (fortunately, the weather was spectacular that day, low 70's, breezy and partly cloudy) chasing live chickens through neighbors yards on the Courier de Mardi Gras (the Mardi Gras run) the Mardi Gras arrive in wagons and on foot struttin' their stuff and showing off the chickens (which are still alive, for the time being). They also have a time on stage, singing, dancing, waving their arms. At one point I truly wondered if I was still in America, or even on planet Earth!!
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