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Archive Files of Cajun, Creole, and Zydeco Musicians |
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Mamou Christmas Parade
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In 2002, the Mamou Christmas Parade celebrated its 10th
anniversary. The parade is like no other. There are no marching bands. Instead, trailers
plus Cajun and Zydeco bands down 6th Street, past Fred's Lounge (the location of most of
the parade shots on this page), and on to the Mamou Civic Center. The bands pull their
trailers up outside the center and, for about an hour after the end of the parade, take
turns playing. Shown at left are the parade marshals for 2002, Joe Burge (aka Dr. Feelgood) and Todd Ortego, the hosts of the popular "Swamp and Roll" radio and television programs. Tim Devillier (aka Tim de L'Anse Maigre) is riding shotgun, and that's Eugene Manuel, proprietor of the Holiday Lounge, at the wheel. Beneath them in the left column are the bands in the parade: Geno Delafose, Don Fontenot and Les Amies de la Louisiane, Hunter Hayes, and Howard Noel Jr. (with Troy LeJeune on accordion). |
Shown in front of the Civic Center are the vocalist for the Ville Platte Playboys, Don Fontenot and Les Amies de la Louisiane (with the Mamou water tower in the background), and the crowd gathered around Hunter Hayes' trailer.
Below is Santa Claus, whose sleigh is drawn by egrets, the celebrated cattle bird of the Mamou Prairie.
Posted 1-5-03
All photographs and text by David Simpson.