When most people think of New Orleans traditions, they think of Mardi Gras beads, jazz funerals, and second lines. But beyond the brass bands and king cakes lies a rich tapestry of lesser-known customs that speak volumes about the city’s deep cultural roots. These five New Orleans traditions may not be in the guidebooks—but they’re essential to understanding the heart of the Crescent City.
1. Courir de Mardi Gras: The Rural Mardi Gras You Never See
While flashy floats and Bourbon Street beads dominate popular images of Mardi Gras, there’s a lesser-known tradition still celebrated in rural Louisiana parishes and even in some pockets of New Orleans culture: Courir de Mardi Gras.
This Cajun celebration involves masked participants in homemade costumes riding horseback (or trucks) through the countryside, going door to door to “beg” for ingredients for a communal gumbo. It’s loud, playful, and rooted in medieval French customs. While it’s more common outside city limits, some New Orleanians with family ties to the countryside still partake in this wilder, more old-school Mardi Gras.
2. Greasing of the Poles at the Royal Sonesta
Kicking off Mardi Gras weekend with flair and laughter, the Greasing of the Poles is a quirky French Quarter tradition that started as a practical measure. In the early 1970s, hotel staff began greasing the balcony poles at the Royal Sonesta Hotel with petroleum jelly to deter overzealous revelers from climbing them.
Now, it’s evolved into a full-blown spectacle—complete with celebrity judges, dancing, and competition. Local personalities and contestants don costumes and compete for the honor of best pole greaser. It’s weird, it’s wonderful, and it’s uniquely New Orleans.
3. Super Sunday: The Real Mardi Gras for the Mardi Gras Indians
The elaborate suits worn by the Mardi Gras Indians on Fat Tuesday are just the beginning. On Super Sunday—usually the third Sunday in March—the tribes return to the streets in full regalia for a celebration that’s more local, more intimate, and deeply sacred.
Unlike the chaos of Mardi Gras Day, Super Sunday is a community-driven event where tribes parade, chant, and battle through song and dance to honor their ancestors and outshine rival groups. It’s one of the city’s most visually stunning and meaningful displays of African-American and Native American cultural fusion.
4. The “Second Christmas” of King’s Day (January 6th)
Most places take down the holiday decorations on New Year’s Day. Not in New Orleans. Here, January 6th—also known as King’s Day or Twelfth Night—is the beginning of the Carnival season.
This day marks the arrival of the Three Kings and is celebrated with the ceremonial cutting of the first king cake. Local krewes like the Phunny Phorty Phellows and the Joan of Arc Parade take to the streets to announce the start of Mardi Gras season. In New Orleans, this day is considered a “second Christmas”—complete with parties, costumes, and a reminder that the season of celebration is just getting started.
New Orleans is a city that thrives on culture, resilience, and stories passed down through generations. While Mardi Gras and jazz get the spotlight, it’s these under-the-radar traditions that truly define the soul of the city.
5. The St. Joseph’s Day Altar and the Lucky Fava Bean
Every March 19th, St. Joseph’s Day is celebrated by many Italian-American New Orleanians with a lavish display of gratitude: the St. Joseph’s Altar. These are elaborate altars built in homes, churches, and schools, laden with bread, pastries, fish, and symbolic decor to honor the patron saint of Sicilians.
Visitors are given a small, dried fava bean—a symbol of good luck and protection against poverty. Even non-Catholics in the city have been known to carry one in their wallets for good fortune. The altars reflect the deep Italian influence in the city and its intersection with Catholic and Creole traditions.
So next time you’re in town, look a little closer—you might just stumble upon a ritual, a recipe, or a rite that’s been alive for centuries, waiting to be discovered.
