Islenos Festival

Everyone has heard of Cajuns, but very few people have heard of the Islenos.  Basically the Islenos are Spanish settlers, who remained isolated and maintained their culture, (much like the Cajuns).  They speak an old dialect of Spanish, have delicious food, and when they speak English, I'll be darned but they sound like they have a Cajun accent.  The Islenos came from the Canary Islands and settled around New Orleans about twenty-five years after the Cajuns arrived.  There is a festival held every year in St. Bernard Parish in order to celebrate the culture.  After we held our garage sale, we headed out to the festival.

Tapis bar.  They had this honey rum that was yummy.

Leave it to BP to "add" to the historic atmosphere.

Inside one of the Islenos' cottages.

Traditional Houma dwelling.

I loved the look of the palmetto leaves inside.

As you can see the woods in lower St. Bernard are full of palmettos.

We did some goofy stuff.  I'm in the hamster ball to the right and Niece #3 is in the one to the right.  

Old pirogues.  See the one with the tiny propeller?  Hubby swore that was his back when he was a kid, but on closer inspection he realized that there wasn't enough bondo for the thing to be his.  Lol, man he lit up when he saw that thing.

It sure is pretty in lower St. Bernard.

This is the Islenos Museum Complex, it has a main museum and several old Islenos houses to tour.

Oh my the food!  Goodbye weight loss Wednesday.

The Sample Platter.  Bacon wrapped plantains, yum.

Nothing says St. Bernard like shrimp boots.

Pretty.

This gentleman was with the Houma Indians.  He said the ribbons were in honor of the Houma people.   One of the women a master basket weaver taught my niece a basic basket weaving technique.

Islenos in traditional costume.  Well almost, she doesn't have her scarf and hat.