Social and Cultural Life 35 
     
    
   
   
    
     with singing and dancing. The musicians were easily recruited 
     
     in the neighbourhood, as each village had a good supply of 
     
     local talent. The Ferdinands a Joe Daniel would be invited in 
     
     Cape Egmont; several of the Joe Bibiennes would always be 
     
     present in Abram’s Village; and Jean Hubert and Joe 
     
     Mocauque’s group would be on hand in St. Chrysostome. 
     
     Musical traditions are obviously very strong in the Evangeline 
     
     Region, since it has produced many well-known musicians 
     
     and singers. The most famous of these is the singer and 
     
     song-writer Angele Arsenault, a member of the Joe Bibienne 
     
     family. 
     
    

    
     Ancient traditions brought from France were kept alive for 
     
     a long time by the Acadians in the Evangeline Region. Most 
     
     of these traditional celebrations took place during the winter 
     
     months. On the 6th of January, people in the village would 
     
     meet in someone’s house for the Twelfth Night Celebration. 
     
     The two people who found a favour in their piece of cake 
     
     were crowned King and Queen for the evening. They had the 
     
     honour of leading the games, the singing and the music. 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
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     “Candelmas Runners” 
     
    

    
     in Mont-Carmel, circa 
     
     1930. (Marguerite Richard 
     
     Collection) 
     
    
   
   
    
     “| made the rounds lots of 
     
     times at Candelmas. There 
     
     were a lot of poor people 
     
     in those days. We went 
     
     around collecting for the 
     
     poor but we always kept 
     
    

    
     a piece of pork to make 
     
     chiard in the evening. It 
     
     was the young fellows that 
     
     went around. There were 
     
     about ten of us. We had 
     
    

    
     a sleigh. We went all over 
     
     the village. We carried a 
     
     pole with a rooster on top.” 
     
    
   
   
    
     Joseph T. Arsenault, 
     
     82 years old in 1974