Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together.

Together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth Ziegler Foundation and the Zeigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you and it's important to know this area was built by Acadians.

Holiday traditions across Louisiana starting in a Katina.

We just wanted a minute as contribute to this slide in a way that lets all the kids and Gabrielle get their presents this year behind the scenes with Christmas Eve Bonfire Builders.

We have probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a million Christmas lights out there.

We are the eighth best city in the world to celebrate Christmas, traveling along the Louisiana holiday Trail of Lights.

Happy holidays, everyone.

I'm Care Saints here.

And I'm Karen LeBlanc.

Welcome to our Christmas episode of Louisiana, the state we're in, where we take you on a tour of holiday traditions across Louisiana making headlines are the happy things that spark joy during the season.

We begin our tour of holiday happenings in south Louisiana as that region prepares for Papa Noel's faithful journey through the bayou, The Noel Acadia or the Lodge, is reminding visitors of their heritage with the display of beautiful lights and Cajun history.

Take a look.

Most of these houses are dedicated and all of the houses are named.

And the names of the houses or the families that lived in it.

Which is really cool because this house we're about to pass on.

All right.

Last fall, a 97 year old man came in and said, I grew up in this house.

I want to go look around.

Wow.

Yeah.

What an experience.

All authentic.

Brian Henson is a CEO of Lark, a nonprofit organization with the goal of providing comfort for Lafayette's intellectually disabled population on his mission to make this community a better place.

Henson's never imagined he'd fall in love with this.

A ten acre display of Acadia and his past.

Just amazing to walk through it and and have living history.

The living history Brian's referring to is called Noel Acadian Oval Lodge.

It's a display of a 19th century Cajun village decorated with authentic homes and artifacts taken from Cajun descendents all over south Louisiana.

But when the temperature drops and dusk sets in at 5 p.m., this quaint relic of history becomes a beautiful showcase of heritage and lights.

With the church at its centerpiece, let's talk about the significance of this place.

It's really historical and you can tell by looking around.

Yeah, so we were just in the church.

The church was an 1860 church.

Most all of the houses, actually the early 1900s, they were all brought from south of here and sort of made a village that would look like it would.

Back in the early 1900s.

And that's even with the buying going through.

It's about because they lived next to my used and the church was next door because the priest might not come out, but once a month he'd go down the body, stopping at villages.

He'd come up the way.

So if you had to get married, you waited till he came back.

So when he got back, he baptized and married.

He confirmed the first communion.

He said Mass.

And then he moved on down the bayou.

Why is it important to preserve a history like that?

I think it makes you appreciate what you have because nothing just popped up.

All this, you know, all this society didn't just pop up.

Somebody built it.

Somebody made it.

Somebody worked really hard for us to have what we have.

We take blacktop roads for granted.

We take cars for granted.

We take air conditioning.

They had none of those things.

But because of the work they did, because the Acadians came here and were so resilient and so good at what they did, was the forming.

They built an economy for the holiday season.

The church, all the other neighboring homes in the fields surrounding the display will be draped in lights half a million, to be specific.

The village is transformed into almost a Christmas wonderland.

Can you tell me all that goes into it?

It's a lot of work.

Late October, early September, we start, but not the lights at that time as well.

It's over a million lights.

It's a lot of work.

And all the houses for us, we have to wrap those in.

We have to wrap those in a way that, you know, we we're not putting staples in these houses, so it makes it a little more difficult.

You have to be really creative about how you put the lights on them.

So it's huge.

It's it's 45 volunteers a night and we go 23 nights.

The process is hard, but to Brian, the effort is well worth the work.

All of the money collected from ticket purchases is used to better the lives of Lafayette's intellectually disabled.

At Lark last year, when temperatures dropped, Brian's organization took a hit.

Less people showed up making this year's ticket sales crucial.

It was really cold.

Weather was really bad.

Turnout was low because of that.

And so thank you.

Good lord.

This year the weather is beautiful.

It looks like it's going to continue to be beautiful.

It's cool, but not too cold.

So it's really got a Christmasy feel.

And honestly, there there's more to see this year.

There's more lights than there ever been.

This year.

Brian is expecting about 6000 people to show up on the final weekend.

Those who do choose to get lost in the Christmas revelry can expect carnival rides.

Louisiana's Culinary staples and a store packed with art and holiday whimsy.

It's this attention to detail that attracts visitors like Sarah and Wyatt Lemaire every single year.

So this is our yearly tradition.

Every year we come to see the lights at Acadian Village, do a couple of the rides, have hot chocolate, listen to carolers, and then take a picture with Santa.

I have two girls, so we have pictures from when they were babies in front of all of the displays in the houses.

So it's a beautiful thing to look back on to see how they grow throughout the years.

Though the village's Christmas display ends on Saturday, Bryan says it's worth a visit if not for the holidays.

For the history, I think it's important to know who you are and to know where you live, even if you aren't Acadian.

It's important to know this area was built by Acadians, and so in my opinion, you sort of owe something to them and we owe it to people to keep that heritage alive, in my opinion.

And we owe it to people and we owe it to history to take care of these homes.

Next, we head to Gary Ville in Saint John the Baptist Parish between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where generations of residents in this small town have been preserving the craft and tradition of Christmas Eve bonfires.

I'm taking you behind the scenes with bonfire builders who make the wooden structures that they ignite on Christmas Eve to light the way for Papa Noel and well, visit the bonfire festival and lecture part of the exciting buildup to the main event along the Mississippi River levee in Gary ville.

Wood structures start taking shape around Thanksgiving.

As bonfire builders get to work stacking and hammering wooden shapes to ignite on Christmas Eve night, it's a tradition in Saint James Parish that dates back to the early 1700s tied to Cajun folklore, started by early settlers of the river Parishes.

The belief is that the levee bonfires light the way for Papa Noel to deliver presents.

I wanted to take you behind the scenes to show you the kind of work that goes into building these bonfires that light up the levee.

So we are visiting the site of blood, sweat and bonfires.

It's a group of bonfire builders who've been together since 1998 as kids building here on the levee.

And each year they build these extravagant bonfires and they're different.

Let's take a walk.

And I want to take a look at this.

All right.

What is it that you're building this year?

So this year we decided to do an alligator goldfish because it kind of fits the theme going on year after year with Louisiana type bayou Swamp Swamp Region.

Starting a few days after Thanksgiving, the group gathers each weekend to build the wooden structures leading up to Christmas Eve.

It's also a time to socialize and connect with the community.

There are many people who stopped by to chat and watch the bonfire building.

So this is our very first bonfire we ever built as a group of kids on the levee.

And this was done in like 98.

I'm up here.

We've been here over the years.

This group of friends has built bonfires in the likeness of all sorts of Louisiana creatures.

A largemouth bass, a crawfish, a crab, a pelican, snapper, a turtle, and occasionally deviating from Louisiana themes to produce the space shuttle.

A guitar and a breast cancer memorial, just to name a few.

In its long history.

Bonfire builders say their latest creation puts the GA in Kari ville with their GAA gator spanning 40 feet long and seven feet tall.

So it's kind of one of those things like a Louisiana style Christmas.

We put our own twist on things and this is just something so unique to our region and we've been doing it so long.

It's got history to it and we just enjoy doing it so much.

It's just been so much fun for us over the years.

We look forward to it every year.

The build up to the main event includes the beloved festival of the Bonfires in Letcher.

You know, we always it's been a family tradition in St James Parish to build bonfires on the levee, to light the way for Papa and Noel, for people can see our small town St James Parish, and that's what we decided to do.

A festival, the bonfires, the crowd to give a little glimpse of it.

If you can't come Christmas Eve.

So we light some bonfires at the festival and then we get ready for Christmas Eve, where we open our doors to the tourists.

They come into our homes, eat gumbo, just chat around and then light a bonfire on the levee.

For Papa Noel, folks gather around the festival bonfire with a modern day twist on this Cajun tradition a fireworks show of cascading lights that dance above the flickering bonfire flames.

The night is a glow from the ground up to the sky.

You know, it's always the second weekend in December.

And we just have live music, you know, arts and crafts.

We have a gumbo cook off on Friday night that always has over 100 Garbo's We have day.

We had actually our Teen and Miss Best of the Bonfires pageant.

We have teens that come throughout the entire state of Louisiana to come and support the girls.

Today, these bonfires line the levee for miles, attracting thousands of visitors.

Many Louisiana families that make Christmas Eve bonfire outings part of their holiday tradition.

At 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve, fire chiefs send the signal to light the fires.

So all the kids are going to thank you because Santa Claus or A.K.

or Noel.

That's right.

Well, see his way along the lighted levee thanks to the bonfire.

Yeah, right.

We just wanted to burn it as a tribute to his life in a way that lets all kids and gamble get their present This year.

Back in the day, if you plan to attend the bonfires, take note.

The bonfire lightings have been moved up to Saturday night, December 23rd, instead of Sunday night, December 24th, due to rainfall predicted on Christmas Eve this season, Natchitoches celebrates its distinction as the world's eighth best Christmas city for its Christmas festival and its full calendar of holiday events.

The Festival of Lights, as it's commonly known, started in 1927, sparking joy and holiday traditions for generations of families.

Now, in its 97th year, the Natchitoches Christmas Festival is a must see attraction along the Louisiana holiday Trail of Lights.

And it is our first stop on the tour.

Lots of names.

And the main family carries on a tradition from their childhood growing up in Natchitoches.

A visit to this Santa Claus house as the city lights up for the annual Christmas festival.

We've grown up here.

We've lived here our whole lives and so for us, coming as kids ourselves to be able to bring our children and get to come down here and literally have this in our back yard is so special.

Each year to get to do it and we're so excited to be so close to the 100th year of it and to be able to celebrate that with our kids.

Then back at this Christmas festival is now in its 97th year.

And as the sun sets, the waterway lights up with over 100 lighted displays, 300,000 lights.

It's a beloved tradition that attracts visitors from all over.

It's a magical place during the Christmas season.

And what we know from our tourism folks is we are the eighth best city in the world to celebrate Christmas.

So that's a big thing.

That's not in the South, that's not in the United States.

That's the world.

Interestingly enough, the tradition was started by a city utility worker.

Our uncle Charlie Maggio, was he worked for the city.

He was an electrician.

The lineman, and he and Charlie Solomon and some other folks at the city, they built the first Christmas set pieces that you see still, and some of the original ones are still here on the riverbank.

Chris and Carmela Maggio are siblings who carry on the Christmas festival legacy started by their family members as kids.

Again, we had 30, 40 cousins and every night back in those days you had to turn manually turn on the Christmas lights.

So the Oracle Charlie would take about four or five of us every night and we would flip the switch to turn on the lights every Christmas.

Each holiday season, the Maggio siblings open the doors to Santa Claus house founded by their aunt in the late 1950s.

It's a beautiful and bittersweet story.

Santa Claus house honors the memory of Bury their aunt's three year old son.

Bury wanted to see Santa on a family shopping trip to Shreveport, but he never got the chance.

Bury our cousin Sara.

That's okay.

Mama will see Santa next year.

Well, unfortunately, within that year, there was an accident in the home, and Barry passed away.

And so our.

Our aunt, Jeanette Maggio.

Gunner went to the mayor back in the late 1950s and said, If you'll build a Santa Claus house, we'll make sure that no kid in that condition never.

And every kid in Natchitoches has the opportunity to see Santa.

Santa Claus houses open free of charge for children and pets to visit.

Take photos and tell Santa what's on their Christmas list.

Carmela volunteers to keep Santa Claus house open nightly during the Christmas festival through December 23rd.

That took home this because it's we want to carry on the legacy that my aunt started years ago.

I think it means a lot because I when I come every night, I just I meet so many families, local families and families from out of town.

And it's just I just see the joy on the kids faces as they come to see Santa.

Joy and the pride that comes with being a Christmas bell.

A dream of countless young girls growing up in Natchitoches, including Elisa Robertson.

Current Christmas Bell Santas assistant and Christmas festival ambassador.

And whenever we were all little, we wanted to be Christmas bells.

So now it's kind of cool to be one now.

I've been called Mrs. Claus Elves.

A bunch of different things, so it's cool to see them.

And I used to be one of those.

And the title comes with the responsibility.

Tell me about that.

It does.

So a lot of it was academic.

And so maintaining that coming up, all of the things that we go to, we go all over the state festivals.

One of the highlights of the market is Christmas Festival is the holiday home tour.

The city is filled with these charming historic bed and breakfast in such as this one here, the steel magnolia house, all decorated for the holidays.

A canopy of lights covers the streets of downtown historic Natchitoches as holiday shopping, special events and shows bring an uptick in business, friends and relations on this night.

Zydeco musician Patrice Liquor was performing with the liquor trio.

So, first of all, congratulations.

You are riding in the parade and Army honor.

That's unbelievable.

Yes, very excited.

What was your reaction?

How do you find out?

well, I found out several months ago, but I had to keep it a secret because it wasn't announced yet.

This is Christmas and New Year.

Christmas.

My guilty day.

The Northwestern State University Middle Lab School Orchestra director was recently inducted into the Louisiana Music Educators Association Hall of Fame, and he's writing in honor of music education, the theme of this year's Rose Parade float.

Natchitoches is one of several north Louisiana cities along the Louisiana holiday of Lakes Trail, bringing visitors and boosting local economies.

When you say economy, a great economic impact, I think a lot of people feel that, especially our downtown merchants, it's typically the best time of the year from an economic standpoint for them to our Holiday Trail of Lights tour continues in Shreveport, where Rose Gardens have transformed into a lighted winter wonderland at the American Rose Center.

So come along with me as I explore the history behind this 40 year old beloved event that is a favorite holiday tradition for countless families.

The Louisiana Holiday Trail of Lights originated in 1992, and it runs along I-20 and I-49 in north Louisiana through several cities, including Shreveport, which is where we are headed to hit the highlights.

Shreveport is one of eight north Louisiana cities along the holiday of life trail, and the main attraction is here at the Rose Center.

Christmas in Roseland.

It's a half a mile of lights, lots and lots of lights.

Estimates are more than a million.

Let's go check it out.

Hi, Claire.

Yes, Karen.

Hi, Karen.

Thank you so much for having me here at the Rose Center.

It's all aglow.

Yes, it is.

It's wonderful to have you.

Thank you for coming.

So tell me about this.

This is now in its 40th year.

Yes, it is.

This our 40 year anniversary?

Wow.

So what goes on here?

This is as Christmas in Rose Land.

It is our largest fund raiser for the American Rose Society.

And so what we do is every year we light up our gardens with Christmas lights and we invite the community to come out and enjoy them.

There are a lot of lights here.

What kind of work goes into this?

It's a lot of work.

We began putting up Christmas lights the 1st of October, and we go right up until when our Christmas light event begins right before Thanksgiving.

Any idea how many lights have you ever counted?

I've never counted them, but we have probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a million Christmas lights out there.

The American Rose Center spans 118 acres.

It's planted with a vast variety of roses As the largest rose garden in the nation and home to the national headquarters of the American Rose Society.

A lot of families just come back year after year and they say that it's that tradition.

They enjoy bringing back their children and now their grandchildren.

It's about a half a mile walk out there.

And so it's a lot of fun.

There's a lot to see.

Next, it's off to support Discovery Center for the Science of the holiday season.

Snowfall opened back up in 2019, so it opened November 24th and it'll be here until the 28th of January.

So it's our most anticipated seasonal exhibit.

It's our winter wonderland, basically, and it's about all the science behind both Winter and Snowflake making.

We have a snow globe that they can be in that has the landscape of Shreveport.

We have the inflatable igloo, some Lego building challenges, as well as a motion picture with our gnomes over here.

We also have our ice fishing pond and our xylophone tree.

So this year, the holidays are not just about Santa.

The holidays are about science as.

100%.

And so we say goodbye to the Louisiana holiday Trail of Lights with festive scenes from other participating cities.

After an eventful eight years in office.

Governor John Bel Edwards will complete his second term in January, making room for the incoming Landry administration.

During his tenure, he faced a barrage of natural disasters, an unprecedented health crisis, and Louisiana's largest fiscal deficit in history.

For our special end of the year coverage, we sat down with the governor as he spoke about his legacy, his regrets and his hopes for Louisiana's future.

Here's a sneak peek.

So at this point, you're no stranger to resilience and having to rebuild.

But in your opinion, what's the most difficult aspect of disaster recovery in Louisiana?

Yeah, well, first of all, it is very challenging under any circumstance.

Every recovery is dependent upon an appropriation from Congress.

So you you don't know how much it's going to be until after they appropriated in the language in the appropriation instrument.

It changes each time.

And so the rules change.

And so you have to wait for Congress to make the appropriation, and then the allocation has to be made to Louisiana out of that overall appropriation.

You have to read the language and then then the HUD has to do the Federal Register notice.

Let us know what the rules are going to be.

It's a lot of moving, so it's a lot of moving parts.

But we have the most experience in the country.

And now we can't we can't skip steps because you have to do things right.

But it's just very difficult.

But we're blessed to have really good public servants in Louisiana who have an awful lot of experience across that whole process.

And and but but I will tell you, the storms that that were that were the hardest deal with were law in 2020 and IDA in 2021, southwest Louisiana southeast Louisiana, the two strongest hurricanes to ever make landfall in our state.

And it happened during the height of the COVID public health emergency.

And so everything changes how you how you shelter people, changes, how you go out and inspect properties, how you deliver assistance.

I mean, all of that was just much more difficult during those years.

But again, very blessed by the just the wonderful public servants we have here in our state.

If you want to watch that full interview, tune in to S.W.A.T.

on December 29th at 7 p.m..

I am really looking forward to that interview and just hearing what he thinks his legacy is.

And the other thing that I'm really looking forward to is Christmas Day.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Okay.

Holiday baking.

I bake my granny's pecan pie and my mama's peanut butter fudge.

Okay.

I remember you telling us this.

I think it was back during Thanksgiving.

Well, hopefully you'll be able to bake something wonderful.

And I believe that is our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything any time, wherever you are with our live PBS app.

And you can catch L.P. news and public affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook X and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm crossing here.

And I'm Carol Loblaw.

Happy holidays.

And until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Every day I go to work for Entergy.

I know customers are counting on me.

So Entergy is investing millions of dollars to keep the lights on and installing new technology to prevent outages before they happen.

Together, together.

Together.

We power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred Bea and Ruth Ziegler Foundation and the Zeigler Art Museum located in Jennings City Hall.

The museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is an historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

With support from viewers like you and.