Christmas Eve Bonfires
Louisana Residents Say Levee Fires Guide Santa Through Bayou Country
50 miles above New Orleans, Cajun/German descendants build about 100 huge bonfires on Mississippi River levees. Legend says they light the way for Pere Noel.
South Louisiana residents say Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer needs help lighting their dark bayou country, so they build huge bonfires atop the Mississippi River levee to help Pere Noel (Santa Claus to most Americans) find his way on Christmas Eve.
That's one legend behind the old bonfire tradition in St. James Parish, a sugar cane-rich county about an hour drive above New Orleans. It is also the most popular story these days although St. James Parish historian Ellen Chenet Guidry wrote that it was "improbable."
She pointed out in a history of the parish that early settlers lit bonfires before "Pere Noel" was well known in the area and that St. James' Cajun/German families originally presented gifts to children on New Year's Eve, rather than Christmas. Other theories, she added, held that the bonfires were lit to help guide ships down the river, or to guide Catholics to midnight mass on Christmas Eve.
Thousands of Tourists and Residents Line River to See Bonfires
Despite what she called "an intermingling of facts and fantasies," the Christmas Eve bonfires have become a major holiday event along the river. Thousands of people from New Orleans and the surrounding countryside embrace the Pere Noel legend and gather along the levees to watch the burnings.
The crowds are likely to include out-of-state visitors because the bonfires usually attract tour buses.
The day after Thanksgiving, young men, like some of their fathers, begin cutting small trees to build teepee-shaped structures for the bonfires. They have scouted much of the past year for the straightest tree trunks.
Bonfires Must Be 18-Feet and Shaped Like Teepees
The fires are strictly controlled. Permits are required. By law and tradition, the teepees should be no more than 18-feet high, prompting the men of St. James to look for 24-foot tree trunks that they can lean into and attach to the center pole. By Christmas Eve, they will build about 100 teepees to set afire.
For years, some of the bonfire structures were modeled after famous monuments, local plantation houses or even ships. However, since some of the fancier structures crashed dangerously after being lit, the St. James Parish government has ordered all the bonfires to be built as teepees.
They allow only three exceptions, at specific sites, to the teepee shapes. The builders try to keep the shapes of those three secret, but firefighters keep a close watch on them.
Weekend Bonfire Festival Scheduled in Early December
With an eye on tourism, St. James now hosts a weekend bonfire festival in early December, lighting one fire each night for visitors who can’t make it to the Christmas Eve burnings.
St. James is part of what is known as Louisiana’s "German Coast," where Cajuns and German immigrants married and melded into one culture in the 18th and 19th centuries. At one time it was known as the Acadian Coast, because many French had settled there after escaping British rule in Nova Scotia.
Out-of-state visitors wishing to view the bonfires on Christmas Eve should plan to find housing in New Orleans and to drive upriver to the towns of Lutcher, Gramercy or Paulina the afternoon of Christmas Eve. Or they can contact the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau for information on bonfire tours.
