Harlan Kirgan
The Eunice Courir de Mardi Gras will take place although on a smaller scale than previous years, Captain Pat Frey said.
Frey confirmed the run following a number of Mardi Gras event cancellations.
“We are going to go by the governor’s guidelines, so we only going to to have a 150 runners,” he said.
Eunice Mardi Gras runs typically number toward hundreds of participants and a downtown crowd of more than a thousand people.
Applications to be in the run have been on online at the Le Vieux Mardi Gras De Cajuns de Eunice’s Facebook page.
Frey has always complained about runners not wearing masks and other traditional garb, so this may be the year the mask rule will be strictly enforced.
The online registration is one way the Mardi Gras Association is adhering to the pandemic guideline. Frey said the runners will be validated Tuesday morning as they assemble at the Northwest Community Center.
The run is to start at 9 a.m. and follow the rural route north of Eunice. The runners will not go through downtown Eunice on their return and instead go to the Northwest Community Center where they will pick up gumbo to-go.
“People are kind of hee-hawing about what we are doing, but they need to understand,” Frey said.
The entry fee to participate in the run had been $40, but is $30 this year, which reflects the association is not including beer. Runners will have to bring their own beverages, he said.
The Association will provide a boudin lunch along with the to-go gumbo.
Runners will still chase chickens, he said.
The governor is scheduled to announce new orders about the coronavirus on Feb. 10, which may alter the Association’s plans.
If the restrictions are moved to Phase 1, that would cancel the Association’s run, said Amber Bordelon, another organizer.
On Tuesday, the Eunice downtown Mardi Gras festivities were canceled.
Other cancellations include the Greater Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association’s parades in Lafeyette, the Church Point Courir de Mardi Gras, Youngsville Parade; Carencro Parade; Scott Parade; Krewe des Chien Parade; Sunset Mardi Gras Parade; St. Martinville’s Newcomers Club Parade; Franklin Mardi Gras Parade; Krewe of Hephaestus Parade; Carnival D’Acadie; Rayne Mardi Gras Parade and Celebration; Loreauville Parade and Festivities; and New Iberia Parade.
Parades in New Orleans have been canceled.