During winter break, on Christmas Eve, we decided just like last year to go down the River Road between New Orleans and Baton Rouge to see the bonfires built on the levee.
Each Christmas Eve around 7p, the bonfires are lit as tradition to help Papa Noel find his way along the river.
Everyone who wants to build a bonfire pays for a permit, and a committee provides liability coverage so that the tradition — begun back in the 1800s and revived in the 1950s, to the spectacle it is today — can continue. They, 100+, are built at the crown of the levee around Gramercy and Lutcher in St. James especially although they appear for miles around these communities.
Most are built in a teepee shape, although a few were built like little cabins.
Here are some pics from last year during the daytime, and below, the lit ones from this year:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepfriedkudzu/8342408078/player/79a3802b6a
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https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepfriedkudzu/11801214756/player/4bbb7a1b64
https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepfriedkudzu/11800886524/player/c539ea5031
https://www.flickr.com/photos/deepfriedkudzu/11800895364/player/94ff030955