Prairie du Rocher New Years Eve 2024

la Guiannée Party, Live Music Performances, top new years eve celebrations and hotels

Prairie du Rocher, a place I confess I've only recently become aware of, is by some margin the smallest single venue we've featured on the site to date, with a resident population according to Wikipedia of only around 650.

We were however contacted by a local resident who has been visiting and performing at their new year party for over 50 years now, and were suitably intrigued by his tales of la Guiannée party, so it's many thanks to Daniel Franklin for the following information.

New Years Eve Party

Since Prairie du Rocher's founding in 1722, la Guiannée has been performed by residents every New Years Eve. This unbroken tradition is unique on the North American continent.

The tradition is a form of mummery; there are similarities to Philadelphia's Mummers Parade on New Years Day. Brought from France through Canada to the Illinois Country, the song was originally sung on New Years Eve by peasants as they made the rounds of the homes of the wealthy.

There are three themes, as the lyrics and their translation show: an appeal for food and indulgence; a soliloquy about love; and an apologetic and comical adieu. Accompanied by guitar, fiddle, and sometimes mandolin, the leader intones each verse and the group repeats it. The adieu is sung as a solo or duet.

'La Guiannée' refers to the song, the custom, and the group that performs the song.

We write the name of the song as 'la Guiannée' (with an acute accent over the first 'e'). There have been various spellings, including 'Gionie' and 'Guignolee,' but we standardized on 'la Guiannée' at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century.

In Prairie du Rocher and environs, 'la Guiannée' is called 'the Guiannée' (pronounced gee-OH-nee -- the 'g' is hard).

New Years Eve Hotels

There aren't many in the area to be honest, but the LaClare Manor Bed & Breakfast does look like an especially welcoming, tradtional style guest house.

To check availability and make reservations at this and all the hotels in the area, you can make online bookings here.

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