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USA South
“Most people read fairy tales, here in Lake Charles we get to live in a fairy tale every year during Mardi Gras."
Monte Hurley, director of the Louisiana Outback Creole Nature Trail All-American Road.
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA, USA – The carnival season of Mardi Gras spans weeks of masked balls, parades, and colorful merriment. Lasting from Twelfth Night until Fat Tuesday or the day before the start of Lent, more than 50 Mardi Gras krewes or social clubs thrive in the communities of Southwest Louisiana.
While Mardi Gras celebrations exist throughout the coastal South from Alabama (the tradition actually began in Mobile, not New Orleans as is popularly held) to West Texas, visitors to Lake Charles can actually participate like nowhere else.
While anyone can go to a Mardi Gras parade and watch the colorful floats and costumed royalty drive by, and catch some beads, doubloons and other loot, most Yankees fail to realize that Mardi Gras balls and parties are generally closed door, invitation only events. But Lake Charles gives outsiders three chances to experience Mardi Gras in ways that other such celebrations don’t.
During January’s Twelfth Night Party, held at the Lake Charles Civic Center, locals and visitors alike get their last chance to view the previous carnival season’s costumes and royalty before the new Mardi Gras season gets fully underway. On Lundi Gras (the Monday before Fat Tuesday) the civic center opens up to celebrate the Royal Gala, when the royal courts of more than 50 krewes promenade in full Mardi Gras regalia.
In addition the Krewe of Illusions sells tickets to their ball, giving outsiders an unprecedented chance to actually take part in the formal revelry. Naturally tickets go fast, so make plans and reserve tickets as soon as they go on sale.
Of course these activities depend on your visiting Lake Charles during the carnival season. But even if you visit at a different time of year, you can still celebrate Mardi Gras. Start by snacking on the celebration’s most important culinary component, the King Cake. Delicious Donuts and Bakery, a small brother and sister owned business makes between 2,000 and 6,000 cakes per year depending on when Fat Tuesday falls on the calendar – a longer Mardi Gras season means more King Cakes.
The cake, which more closely resembles rich, sweet bread than an actual cake, is decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: green, representing faith, gold symbolizing power, and purple denoting justice. The origins of the King Cake date back to the Feast of the Epiphany or Twelfth Night, which honors the three kings present at the Christ child's birth. Which is, I assume, where the custom of hiding a tiny baby doll in the cake, started.
In today's Mardi Gras celebration, tradition calls for the person who gets the "lucky" piece of cake with the baby doll inside, to throw the next party -- or on a simpler note, buy or make the next King Cake.
Delicious Donuts and Bakery make cakes with a variety of fillings including custard, strawberry, and blueberry, but by far their most popular are the Praline and Pralines and Cream filled King Cakes. In fact 55% of all the cakes they sell have pecans in the filling. Naturally most of the cakes are sold during the Mardi Gras season but the bakery will be happy to one for you any time of year. They’ll even ship one to your home in case you can’t visit in person.
Visitors can experience the tradition and pageantry of Mardi Gras year-round at the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu, housed in the meticulously restored 1912 era Central School Building, part of Lake Charles’ Charpentier Historic District . Southern Living Magazine deemed it “the finest Mardi Gras Museum in the South and there’s no better way to experience the revelry of Mardi Gras if your visit to Southwest Louisiana doesn’t coincide with carnival season.
Exhibits take you through all aspects of the Lake Charles Mardi Gras experience from formal balls, costumes, and parades, to the rural tradition of Courir de Mardi Gras. With its roots firmly in the medieval tradition of ceremonial begging, bands of masked and costumed horseback riders roam the countryside "begging" for ingredients for their communal gumbo.
The costumes are the real star of the show here, and the museum boasts the largest collection of Mardi Gras finery in the South. Each room seems to get more and more elaborate with each krewe trying to the others, upping the outlandish sequin festooned ante with each passing year.
Delicious Donuts and Bakery is located at 2283 Country Club Road Lake Charles, LA 70605. Phone them at 337-479-2986
The Imperial Calcasieu Mardi Gras Museum is located on the second floor of the Central School Arts and Humanities Center at 809 Kirby St. in the historic Charpentier District of Lake Charles, LA 70601 Phone them mat 337- 430-0043 or visit the building’s website at www.artsandhumanitiesswla.org.
Should you want to make your own King Cake at home, you can find a good recipe and decorating directions from FabulousFoods.com at www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/43/17835.
For information about visiting Southwest Louisiana or to find lodgings and more travel options phone the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-456-SWLA or 337-436-9588 or visit their website website at www.VisitLakeCharles.com.
USA South
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“Most people read fairy tales, here in Lake Charles we get to live in a fairy tale every year during Mardi Gras."Monte Hurley, director of the Louisiana Outback Creole Nature Trail All-American Road.
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA, USA – The carnival season of Mardi Gras spans weeks of masked balls, parades, and colorful merriment. Lasting from Twelfth Night until Fat Tuesday or the day before the start of Lent, more than 50 Mardi Gras krewes or social clubs thrive in the communities of Southwest Louisiana.
While Mardi Gras celebrations exist throughout the coastal South from Alabama (the tradition actually began in Mobile, not New Orleans as is popularly held) to West Texas, visitors to Lake Charles can actually participate like nowhere else.
While anyone can go to a Mardi Gras parade and watch the colorful floats and costumed royalty drive by, and catch some beads, doubloons and other loot, most Yankees fail to realize that Mardi Gras balls and parties are generally closed door, invitation only events. But Lake Charles gives outsiders three chances to experience Mardi Gras in ways that other such celebrations don’t.
During January’s Twelfth Night Party, held at the Lake Charles Civic Center, locals and visitors alike get their last chance to view the previous carnival season’s costumes and royalty before the new Mardi Gras season gets fully underway. On Lundi Gras (the Monday before Fat Tuesday) the civic center opens up to celebrate the Royal Gala, when the royal courts of more than 50 krewes promenade in full Mardi Gras regalia.
In addition the Krewe of Illusions sells tickets to their ball, giving outsiders an unprecedented chance to actually take part in the formal revelry. Naturally tickets go fast, so make plans and reserve tickets as soon as they go on sale.
Of course these activities depend on your visiting Lake Charles during the carnival season. But even if you visit at a different time of year, you can still celebrate Mardi Gras. Start by snacking on the celebration’s most important culinary component, the King Cake. Delicious Donuts and Bakery, a small brother and sister owned business makes between 2,000 and 6,000 cakes per year depending on when Fat Tuesday falls on the calendar – a longer Mardi Gras season means more King Cakes.
The cake, which more closely resembles rich, sweet bread than an actual cake, is decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: green, representing faith, gold symbolizing power, and purple denoting justice. The origins of the King Cake date back to the Feast of the Epiphany or Twelfth Night, which honors the three kings present at the Christ child's birth. Which is, I assume, where the custom of hiding a tiny baby doll in the cake, started.
In today's Mardi Gras celebration, tradition calls for the person who gets the "lucky" piece of cake with the baby doll inside, to throw the next party -- or on a simpler note, buy or make the next King Cake.
Delicious Donuts and Bakery make cakes with a variety of fillings including custard, strawberry, and blueberry, but by far their most popular are the Praline and Pralines and Cream filled King Cakes. In fact 55% of all the cakes they sell have pecans in the filling. Naturally most of the cakes are sold during the Mardi Gras season but the bakery will be happy to one for you any time of year. They’ll even ship one to your home in case you can’t visit in person.
Visitors can experience the tradition and pageantry of Mardi Gras year-round at the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu, housed in the meticulously restored 1912 era Central School Building, part of Lake Charles’ Charpentier Historic District . Southern Living Magazine deemed it “the finest Mardi Gras Museum in the South and there’s no better way to experience the revelry of Mardi Gras if your visit to Southwest Louisiana doesn’t coincide with carnival season.
Exhibits take you through all aspects of the Lake Charles Mardi Gras experience from formal balls, costumes, and parades, to the rural tradition of Courir de Mardi Gras. With its roots firmly in the medieval tradition of ceremonial begging, bands of masked and costumed horseback riders roam the countryside "begging" for ingredients for their communal gumbo.
The costumes are the real star of the show here, and the museum boasts the largest collection of Mardi Gras finery in the South. Each room seems to get more and more elaborate with each krewe trying to the others, upping the outlandish sequin festooned ante with each passing year.
Practicalities
Delicious Donuts and Bakery is located at 2283 Country Club Road Lake Charles, LA 70605. Phone them at 337-479-2986
The Imperial Calcasieu Mardi Gras Museum is located on the second floor of the Central School Arts and Humanities Center at 809 Kirby St. in the historic Charpentier District of Lake Charles, LA 70601 Phone them mat 337- 430-0043 or visit the building’s website at www.artsandhumanitiesswla.org.
Should you want to make your own King Cake at home, you can find a good recipe and decorating directions from FabulousFoods.com at www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/article/43/17835.
For information about visiting Southwest Louisiana or to find lodgings and more travel options phone the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-456-SWLA or 337-436-9588 or visit their website website at www.VisitLakeCharles.com.
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