Mardi Gras is such an iconic New Orleans festival that it’s easy to forget the holiday is a celebration throughout Louisiana. In the heart of Acadiana, an eight-parish region in southwest Louisiana, Mardi Gras is not about extravagant parades, colorful beads and flamboyant costumes. Cajuns have their own traditions that are less familiar but just as entertaining as New Orleans’ festivities, so this year venture into rural French Louisiana and discover the thrill of Mardi Gras done Cajun style.