In parts of Cajun country, such as Eunice, Basile, Church Point and Mamou, the traditional Courir de Mardi Gras (French for the "Mardi Gras Run") is still held. Le Capitaine leads masked men on horseback to gather ingredients for making the communal meal (usually a gumbo). Participants gather in costume and move from home to home requesting ingredients for the night's meal. This rural Mardi Gras draws on traditions that are centuries old. Revelers sing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras", a song echoing medieval melodies.
People escape from ordinary life partly through the alcohol many consume in their festive quest, but more so through the roles they portray in costume. As they act out their parts in a wild, gaudy pageant, they are escaping from routine existence, freed from the restraints that confine them every other day of the year.
The capitaine maintains control over the Mardi Gras. He issues instructions to the riders as they assemble early in the morning and then leads them on their run. When they arrive at a farm house, he obtains permission to enter private property, after which the riders may charge toward the house, where they sing, dance, and beg until the owner offers them an ingredient for a gumbo. Often, the owner will throw a live chicken into the air that the maskers will chase, like football players trying to recover a fumble. By mid to late afternoon, the courir returns to town and parades down the main street on the way to the location where the evening gumbo will be prepared.
Read more about this topic: Mardi Gras In The United States, Louisiana