In the River parishes (counties) of Louisiana, St. James Parish, St. John the Baptist Parish and St. Charles Parish, it is a tradition to have bonfires on Christmas eve. The event has gotten so big that there is now a Bonfire Festival and a Bonfire Festival Queen.
Families get together beginning the weekend of Thanksgiving and cut the logs from the willow trees growing on the batture of the Mississippi River. One 70 year old man told me he did this when he was a boy and was now showing his grandsons how to construct one. What was once a very tedious task using hand saws is now a little easier with chain saws. The teepees are in various stages of construction and some have not begun at all but the little flags on the levee mark the spot where one will be. It has gotten so big that one now needs a permit from the levee board and I am sure the Corps of Engineers monitor it carefully.
By December 11 this levee will be lined for miles with these structures and on Christmas Eve the River Road will be lined for miles with cars, bumper to bumper, to see the fires.
It was a challenge to get this photo; the wind was whipping out of the north at a good clip and the levee is very steep here. I rolled down a few times.