Festivals Acadiens et Créoles: Lafayette fest draws crowds from around the world

Music is a major life force of the Cajun culture. Once found only in the backwoods of Louisiana, Cajun music has made a prominent place for itself in America and throughout the world. Vital to the continuation of the culture, it serves to bond together generations.

The annual Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, held October 9-11 in Lafayette’s Girard Park, pays tribute to the Cajun and Creole cultures with a combination of free festivals. The best of Cajun and zydeco music is showcased in addition to the Bayou Food Festival, Louisiana Craft Fair, Louisiana Folk Roots, Culture Sur La Table, and La Place des Petits. The festival originated in 1974 as the Tribute to Cajun Music Festival. Created by the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL), the original festival was designed to educate the younger generation about the Cajun culture and its traditions to “water the roots so the tree would not die.” This was transformed into Festivals Acadiens et Créoles in 1977, and it now attracts thousands from around the world.

“A fundamental principal of the festival is that tradition is not a fixed product but an ongoing process—that culture is a living organism. To try to prevent this is not only unwise, but impossible,” notes author, professor, folklorist, and champion of the Cajun culture, Barry Jean Ancelet. He co-founded the original Tribute to Cajun Music Festival in 1974 and has served as Chair of University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s Department of Modern Languages as the first director of the University Center for Acadian and Creole Folklore. Ancelet hosted Rendez-vous des Cajuns live weekly music radio show for more than a decade. He is the author of One Generation at a Time: Biography of a Cajun and Creole Music Festival (University of Louisiana at Lafayette Center for Louisiana Studies Publications, 2007).

“The festival has long championed creative cultural continuity,” adds Ancelet. “On its stages we try to present the current state of the culture through performances that can range from informed and innovative revivals of the past to informed and innovative explorations of the future. Music that seems to be the result of this organic process has interested festival programmers,” he observes. “The music can be obviously affected by outside influences, such as rock, country, the blues, jazz, even hip-hop, but it must organically integrate them,” he points out. “Musicians continue to invest themselves in what they most rightly consider their own festival.”

Ancelet has served as an ambassador for the Cajun culture for many years. I recall visiting him at his home near Lafayette when his children were still very young. I was impressed that they spoke only French at the dinner table. He was very dedicated to bringing back the Cajun culture back then, starting with the language spoken in his own home. He has been praised internationally for his lifelong efforts.

Reviving the Cajun culture through language, music, and education has been a passionate pursuit by many. Every since the Cajun cultural revival ignited in 1968, when the State of Louisiana created CODOFIL under the chairmanship of Jimmy Domengeaux, the revival of the Cajun culture has been on the rise. I recall my late father, a lawyer, hard at work on the CODOFIL project with “Uncle Jimmy.” My sister later studied in France on a CODOFIL scholarship before enrolling in law school.

As a child of Acadiana, I grew up listening to Cajun ballads, learned the lyrics, and danced at many a fais-do-do. But I unfortunately learned French in school, not at home. We were told that our Canadian grandparents were not allowed to speak French in schools in Acadiana because it was a mark of ignorance. In the 1940s, when Cajun soldiers in France served as interpreters during World War II (our driver was one of them), Cajun national pride was in full bloom and returning GI’s immersed themselves in their own culture. The Cajun dance halls came back. It was during this period that amplifiers were introduced to Cajun music, which was just as much a part of life as farming, feasting, entertaining, and family.

I remember watching Cajun musicians performing on early morning TV shows in Lafayette, and my friends would make fun of it as the “chank-y-chank.” Later, as a musician, I would proudly perform songs like “Allons Danser Colinda!” in a band. Cajun music has made great strides, particularly in the newer styles of swamp-pop and zydeco. The music continues to change as the world is changing. The spirit of the music has evolved to reflect the ever-changing spirit of Louisiana.

“Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is an opportunity for Cajuns, Creoles, and locals to gather and celebrate our culture and unique way of life we live in southwest Louisiana,” says festival board member Chef Patrick Mould. “The festival has experienced a tremendous amount of growth over the last several years. In addition to our two main music stages, workshop tent, and arts and crafts festival, we have added a chef’s demo stage, and a dance hall tent along with a children’s area just in the past couple of years.”

Festival goers can kick up their heels in the Salle de Danse with the likes of Lil’ Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers, Kevin Naquin and the Ossun Playboys, and Jesse Leger and the Southern Ramblers, among others, or experience music on the Festival Stage and the Heritage Stage that includes nearly 30 bands such as the Pineleaf Boys, the Savoy Family Band, Jambalaya with D.L. Menard, Wayne Toups and Zydecajun, Balfa Toujours, and Doug Kershaw.

Jam sessions will be held by professional musicians in the Louisiana Folk Roots Jam des Amis Tent, and the Louisiana Folk Roots Scene Atelier features Cajun and zydeco accordion styles (with Doug Kershaw, Joel Sonnier, Jimmie Newman, and Michael Doucet).

The new Culture Sur La Table component of the festival includes demonstrations by top chefs including Holly Goeting of Charley G’s and a boudin making master class. The Bayou Food Festival offers a large variety of Louisiana dishes prepared by the area’s top restaurants (including Randol’s, Lagneaux’s, Don’s Seafood, and Café des Amis, among many others). La Place des Petits provides crafts, face painting, and music focusing on the francophone culture of Acadiana for children. The Louisiana Crafts Fair features dozens of artisans showcasing everything from metal sculpture, jewelry, stained glass, wood furniture, mosaic tile art, photography, and pottery to carved canes and musical instruments. For information on the lively, fun, and educational Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, go to festivalsacadiens.com. ✦