Bonfires on the levee for Papa Noel: a Cajun-style Christmas on the river that also involves sky-high pyres (and explosives).

The locals of St. James Parish, Louisiana, have their own peculiar, long-standing tradition of lighting teepee-style pyres on fire for Christmas Eve, some of which are packed with fireworks as kindling.
Once few in number, the local bonfires were originally a neighborhood or family oriented activity, and now they line the levee for miles, attracting thousands of visitors every year. Neighboring Ascension and St. John the Baptist Parishes have a scattering of Christmas Eve bonfires, but by far the greatest concentration is in the St. James Parish communities of Lutcher, Gramercy and Paulina.
Throughout the whole month of December, local families work together to build the pyres, that traditionally take pyramid or teepee shapes, but over the course of the years have varied to reflect popular cultural or political themes of significance for that year.
Recent examples include huge log replicas of New Orleans Saints helmets, Budweiser bottles, trains, and a even particularly poignant “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” figure in 2014 to commemorate Michael Brown and the tragedy in Ferguson.
The Festival of the Bonfires lasts through the entire month of December, during which time one pyre is lit nightly, culminating in the final, simultaneous combustion of all remaining towers on Christmas Eve.
Along the miles of levee, the pyres burn with intensity and explode into brilliant colors.
By the river, even more fireworks are lit, creating a backdrop that paints the sky in bright, sparkling colors as the families lining both banks walk past the blazes in celebration of Christmas’ impending arrival.

The history of these fires is a mystery.
Traditionally, a bonfire is a large fire built in the open air, a word derived from the Middle English bone fire, a fire of bones, while other sources define a bonfire as “a festive fire” or a “contribution fire” that is, a fire to which everyone in the neighborhood contributes a certain portion of material.
Bonfires still practicted in certain parts of Europe are the outgrowth of an ancient Celtic custom of building large ceremonial fires to honor the sun.
Centuries before the birth of Christ, the British Isles and Gaul (France) were inhabited by the Celts whose powerful religious leaders, the Druids, had the sun as their principle object of worship and, to pay homage to this great source of power and light, fires were built at the time of the winter and summer solstices.
The Celts were dependent on farming for their tribal livelihood and believed that the fires would hasten the return of Spring and prolong the days of Summer.
Following the birth of Christ, Druid beliefs were gradually supplanted by Christianity, and the fire ritual took on religious meanings.

Back to Louisiana, in the weeks following Thanksgiving, the levee is alive with lot of young people work together, contributing labor and material to create the masterpieces that will be ignited on Christmas Eve.
Weather permitting, fire chiefs give the signal at 7 o’clock, and St. James Parish residents simultaneously set a torch to their bonfires, re-enacting a fire ritual long-performed by their early European ancestors.
Through the years, there has been and intermingling of facts and fantasies concerning the origin of the bonfire tradition. Today’s most popular explanation involving fires lighting the way for Papa Noel (Cajun Santa Claus) on his alligator-drawn pirogue.
The area itself is populated by those of German and French descent and it is believed the fiery tradition traveled with the settlers, whose pre-Christian holiday traditions include setting bonfires and detonating fireworks to either guide or ward off pagan spirits.
However, the earliest documents show these pyres in a neighboring parish along the batture taking place during the summer Feast of St. John the Baptist at 1865, nearly a century after the Cajun settlers claimed the land (which is not to say, of course, they didn’t take place earlier, undocumented).
It’s historians’ best guess that over time, the Festival of the Bonfires migrated to the Christmas holiday at a time, or were reintroduced to the area at the turn of the 20th century, and the insertion of their purpose to “light the way for Papa Noel” and his alligator sleigh simply made for a fantastic story.
And if there’s any time to celebrate a magical story, regardless its true origin, it’s Christmastime.
Either way, little did early French and German settlers of this area dream that the bonfire legacy left to their descendants would one day make Christmas Eve a so magic time in the River Parishes. Had they known, they would have approved while they said “Frohliche Weihnacten” and “Joyeux Noel”!

Images from web – Google Research