Celebrating your heritage can take on many forms. Lafayette, Louisiana, knows all about it because it celebrates its heritage every day. But one weekend a year, Lafayette pulls out all the stops and shares its heritage with the world.
This weekend, October 14, 15, & 16, there will be Cajun fiddles, Creole accordions, Zydeco rubboards, Louisiana artisans, boudin, étouffée and poboys. What more could you ask? Did we mention dancing?
What has come to be called Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is a cooperative of previously independent festivals, the Louisiana Native Crafts Festival, the Festival de Musique Acadienne, and the Bayou Food Festival, that joined forces in 1977 to become Festivals Acadiens.
In 2007, Festivals Acadiens developed a community board and became an independent non-profit corporation. In 2008, the co-op officially changed its name to Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in order to more accurately reflect the cultures that have always been the focus of the festivals.
Since their foundations in the early 1970s, all three components have consistently championed creative cultural continuity. Organizers strive to present the current state of the culture through performances that can range from thoughtful preservation to daring innovation, from the oldest ballads to the latest in experimental Cajun music and zydeco, from traditional gumbos to crawfish eggrolls, from historical wooden boats to innovative multi-media folk art.
And the Cajun and Creole musicians, cooks and craftsmen and craftswomen who participate in this annual event continue to invest themselves in what most rightly consider their own festival, a self-celebration of Cajun and Creole culture.
For the rest of the story, go to www.festivalsacadiensetcreoles.com.
For more information about top events in Louisiana take a look at the Top Events USA selection of the annual main festivals and events in Louisiana.