Fred’s Lounge

Status: Open

Parish: Evangeline

Location: Mamou

Photos by John Sharp

From “Images of America: Ville Platte”, Arcadia Publishing, 2014 by Jean Keisel and Jane Vidrine: “This unimposing building is Fred’s Lounge, a fixture in Mamou since 1946, when Alfred “Fred” Tate purchased this old red-brick bar on Sixth Street. Here Fred and his friends Revon Reed and Paul Tate made plans to revive the Courir de Mardi Gras in Mamou in 1950. Reed began broadcasting a live radio program featuring Cajun music from the lounge in 1962…Inside the lounge, it’s a different world. After Fred’s death in 1992, his ex-wife, Sue Vavasseur, kept the lounge open on Saturday mornings so the braodcasts could continue. She is active today, passing around trays of boudin, bussing tables, and here, posing for a photograph (with customers)…Her pocket flask is part of the tradition, too.”

KVPI broadcastsed from there: traditional Cajun bands on Saturday mornings & Mardi Gras day (Alex Cook)

Contact Info: 420 Sixth Street, 337-468-5411

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Photo Credit: John Sharp