The Start Bonnie Beaullieu began making Cajun Mardi Gras costumes in 2018. Her journey of costume making, which would eventually blossom into “CoCoLo LLC.”, began when she had to take matters into her own hands after paying for a costume to be made and becoming disappointed with the outcome. “She never did ask me for sizes or anything. When I picked it up everything was really tight, did not fit well and I was very disappointed,” she says. She continues on to explain that her mother, who was 89 years old at the time, was making a costume for Bonnie’s granddaughter, since she was finally old enough to run “the big Mardi Gras in Eunice.” As she watched her mom create this costume, she decided then that she wanted to learn how to sew her own costumes. “My mom had not made Mardi Gras costumes since I was very young. She sewed them for me and my brother,” she said.
Make it Different Once she decided to make her own costume, it was then that she also decided to make it stand out. Instead of a regular fringe, Bonnie decided on circles fringed on her pants. “Each circle a different material and bling in between to make them pop,” she says. Clearly the amount of work that goes into this will no longer be unnoticed by regular people like myself, especially after what she says next. “My mom and I spent 40 plus hours with all kinds of different fabric cutting circles to get started on my first pair of pants,” she goes on. Bonnie explains that she designed and her mom sewed the first two pairs then she decided that it was time she learned for herself. At this point, she explains that she had never sewn anything in her life. Once she wore her pants she began to receive a lot of attention for them. “People are constantly taking pictures of me and my pants asking lots of questions. Did I glue circles on? Did I sew the circles on? How much time does it take? I am a perfectionist so everything has to be pinned, looked at, and make sure I am satisfied before it is sewed,” she says. She expresses next that one pair of pants alone typically takes about one week. She continues on saying that she is still a beginner so she is slow, but there is no doubt that whatever she does, is done well.
Then to Now “This is my third year sewing costumes with my now 91 year old mom,” Bonnie says. She explains that they have made a great deal of costumes with different types of fringe, some straight and classic and some with her unique circle style. “I love creating and designing my own and I love admiring the finished product. I am most proud of my work,” she says. She says next that her mother is the one who is a professional at making the Capuchon (the tall hat worn to complete the costume). “That will be my next lesson,” Bonnie says. She explains that she already has orders coming in for next year and so she will begin sewing in early April in order to get them all done without being rushed.
So, when did it start? Bonnie began participating in Eunice Mardi Gras festivities when she was young. “They would put us on trailers with hay and we would pile on with the Mardi Gras French song blaring,” she recalls. She continues on to explain the way the holiday was celebrated at this time. She recounts that there were designated stops along the way where a farmer would release a chicken into the field and everyone would chase trying to be the one to catch it and that at the end of the run there was (and still is) a parade downtown in Eunice with the gumbo celebration after. “Oh, those were the days,” she says. When participating in what Bonnie refers to as “the big Mardi Gras run,” for those eighteen and older, everyone must be in complete Mardi Gras attire to sign up. This includes fringed pants and shirt, Capuchon and mask. “I would never take off my mask, so none of my friends ever knew who I was, so much fun,” she says. “Our hometown Mardi Gras runs are very different from the larger cities like New Orleans or even Lafayette,” she continues, “French music blaring, dancing, begging for money for our gumbo, some swimming in crawfish ponds and chasing chickens. No big fancy floats, just trailers, make-shift busses, and horses. All having the time of our lives.”
The Process Next she recalls some facts about this specific Mardi Gras celebration. She explains that in the past, the runners always stopped at the Eunice Nursing Home and danced for and with the elderly and shared beads and memories with them. “The smile on their face was worth a million,” she said. Unfortunately, the new route does not include this stop at the nursing home. Bonnie expresses that she wishes that would be something they would consider changing. She continues anyway, saying that the parade begins in downtown Eunice around 3 p.m. “And believe me, there are hundreds and hundreds of people,” she explains. After the parade, everyone meets back at the starting point and enjoys a gumbo together before going home to rest up for Ash Wednesday the following day.
The Facts:
Tourism in Rural Louisiana tends to come second to many other parts of the state because a lot of people are unaware of this area's celebration of Mardi Gras (Ware, 157).
In recent years, however, Rural Louisiana's courirs have attracted a different crowd (Ware, 157).
In a given year, there are generally over 20 different types of Mardi Gras runs (Ware, 159).
The different runs are generally racially segregated between Afro-French Creoles and Acadiana's Prairie parishes (Ware, 159).
The town of Mamou, Louisiana was the first to re-establish the Courir following WWII (Ware, 160).
The run provides a way for Cajuns to take pride in their French heritage, music, language, food and other traditions.
Eunice, Louisiana has a population of just under twelve thousand people (Ware 165).
In 1946, the Eunice Mardi Gras run only consisted of 6 Mardi Gras and one captain (Ware, 166).
When the Eunice Mardi Gras parade became more popular, leadership wanted to steer the celebration away from the drunkin' stigma of most Mardi Gras celebration and make it more child-friendly (Ware, 167).
This idea led to the Children's Walking Parade, modeled after the larger parade on Tuesdays, the Children's parade takes place on the Sunday before Ash Wednesday.
Beads are often thrown in these small town runs, making them more similar to parades of New Orleans and other larger cities. However, throwing beads is not the point in these parades, bead throwing is actually frowned upon by many courir organizers (Ware, 169).