Mardi Gras in New Orleans and Mardi Gras in Cajun country can be worlds part. Parades, floats, beads, marching bands and even spectators are traditionally not part of the rural Courir de Mardi Gras in southwest Louisiana.

Filmmaker Pat Mire’s 1993 documentary, Dance for a Chicken: The Cajun Mardi Gras, depicts the Courir de Mardi Gras’ ritual and tradition. In communities such as Tee Mamou, L’Anse Maigre, Basile, Church Point and Iota, colorfully costumed, masked celebrants ride on ...