Mardi Gras in Muncie

Organisers of a mardi gras party say ticket sales have soared since church groups complained of drunk and lewd behaviour.

Co-ordinators of the mardi gras in Muncie, Indiana, report calls for tickets from as far as Chicago and Cincinnati.

Link. Another Link about same story.

Readers who aren't from the Michiana (Michigan/Indiana) area probably don't know much about Muncie. It's outside of Indianapolis and is known by some as "Muncitucky" (I'm not sure how to spell it, but neither are they). It gets its name from the lifestyle and distinctive accent of a sizable number of Kentucky residents who moved there last century. I'm not sure how hillbillies celebrate a Catholic tradition like Mardi Gras, but I suspect they do Flannery O'Connor proud.

Funny thing is, I have Muncituckian kin. Some of the nicest folk I've ever met. I figured everyone from mid-Indiana talked like they did, until I went to law school at Notre Dame and became friends with a guy from Muncie. I asked why he didn't talk like the rest of the people from that region and he said, in effect, "That's just a segment of the population, ya moron. We don't all talk like that."