Biography

Dixie Poché of Lafayette, Louisiana, is a graduate of University of Louisiana at Lafayette in journalism. She is a travel and corporate writer and author of four local history books about Cajun culture, all published through The History Press. She enjoys doing research at the lunch counter and discovering Louisiana's hidden gems. She spends time with lots of Cajun cousins hanging out on the front porch.

Schedule

12:15 pm to 1:00 pm
State Capitol, Senate Committee Room F
Courir de Mardi Gras: The Spectacle and Whimsy of Cajun Mardi Gras
with Barry Jean Ancelet and Dixie Poché

1:15 pm to 2:00 pm
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

Cajun Mardi Gras: A History of Chasing Chickens and Making Gumbo

Dive into Cajun Mardis Gras, where the party goes down with a wholly different flourish

Everyone knows about Louisiana Mardi Gras and its glitz, glam, parades and masquerades. But in Cajun County, the festival turns communities into stage shows of wild revelry. Called Courir de Mardi Gras in the rural parishes, you'll find masked runners and horsemen bedecked in colorful, tattered clothing, cavorting through the countryside on a begging quest for gumbo ingredients. It's an outrageous celebration--derived from the French medieval Festival of Begging--on the eve of Lenten season's fasting. In exchange for neighborly generosity, the revelers sing, dance, act a fool, chase chickens and unite the community with an abundance of mirth that reverberates year-round. Join author Dixie Poché and take part in the wild spectacle and otherworldly whimsy of Courir de Mardis Gras.