Experience A Real Traditional Louisiana Mardi Gras At These 2025 Events

Have you ever attended a Mardi Gras party, parade, or ball? If you are not from Louisiana, you need to pull out your bucket list and write that one down on your list now. Also if you are not from Louisiana you may not know that there are two types of Mardi Gras' in the bayou state.

The one most people are familiar with is Mardi Gras in New Orleans. When people not from Louisiana talk about or hear about Mardi Gras they automatically think of Bourbon Street and New Orleans.  Even though the biggest Mardi Gras celebrations in Louisiana happen in the big easy, there is another style of Mardi Gras going on in different parts of the state.

We are talking about a traditional Mardi Gras complete with a Chicken Run, street dances, iconic traditional costumes, and live Cajun and Zydeco music played and performed by Louisiana-based artists. These types of Mardi Gras celebrations occur in the smaller Cajun towns in Louisiana like in Mamou, Iota, Eunice, and Iowa.

This year the town of Eunice Louisiana is having a five-day Mardi Gras party. The 2025 Eunice Cajun Mardi Gras Festival will take place starting Friday, February 28th, and wrapping up on Mardi Gras Day, Tuesday, March 4th, 2025. This five-day event will feature live music from the morning to the wee hours of the evening on multiple stages throughout downtown Eunice. Click here for the entire music lineup.

The annual Iowa Mardi Gras Run will take place on Mardi Gras day this year on Tuesday, March 4th, 2025. It will take place at the KC Hall on Highway 90 in Iowa, Louisiana. It features a parade, free gumbo, and live music from Rusty Metoyer & Zydeco Krush. Here are the details. 

Another traditional style of Mardi Gras will take place in Mamou, Louisiana, or as we call it here in Louisiana Tee- Mamou. The Mamou Mardi Gras 2025 will take place starting Saturday, March 1st with live music and then winds back up on Monday, March 3rd, and Tuesday, March 4th, 2025. This year's events feature live music from Grammy Award winner Steve Riley and more along with a parade, ball, and other events.

So there you go. Three different spots you can set your GPS to take you to and experience a real traditional Louisiana Mardi Gras.