History & Costumes
COSTUMES OPTIONAL….
At each of our previous Mardi Gras Balls, people have come dressed in every style of dress imaginable. We encourage everyone to get into the Mardi Gras spirit and to attend in full costume or formal wear and masks. Prizes are awarded to the best costumes in a variety of categories. This year we will award a grand prize of $250 to the best overall costume entrant. Other categories will include best group, best couple, best individual, most creative and most traditional. Entrants will be required to pre-register on site so we can place everyone in the proper category prior to the judging.
History
Mardi Gras is an annual celebration that takes place each February in Louisiana for a two and a half week period ending with Fat Tuesday and the beginning of Lent. All across Louisiana, Mardi Gras traditions are celebrated differently depending on one’s location and background. In New Orleans, Mardi Gras social clubs (Krewes) host a number of lavish costume balls and lead grand parades with massive floats throughout the city. In Cajun country, bands of costumed revelers on horseback ride through the countryside chasing chickens and gathering ingredients for a community gumbo to be served at the Mardi Gras fais-do-do. The black communities of both regions have their own traditions as well. Celebrants dress in elaborate feather and bead Mardi Gras Indian costumes in New Orleans where they parade, dance and chant among neighborhood tribes. Rural Mardi Gras celebrants congregate in the evening at the Zydeco clubs for a night of eating, drinking and dancing.
Here in New England, at the annual CAJUN & ZYDECO MARDI GRAS BALL, we bring a sampling of these traditions together for two unforgettable nights of New Orleans, Cajun and Creole music, dance and food. So come and share in the joie de vivre of a Louisiana Mardi Gras and…. “Laissez les bon temps rouler!”
