After 50 years, has become a hallmark of Lafayette杏吧专区檚 cultural calendar. This year, organizers have embraced the half-century milestone as an opportunity to simultaneously look back on the festival杏吧专区檚 roots and ahead toward its future.
Playing a crucial role in both, the 杏吧专区 remains a consistent throughline in the evolution of the event since its beginning in the spring of 1974 as a standing-room-only concert at Blackham Coliseum.
Dr. Barry Ancelet, now a professor emeritus of Francophone studies at UL Lafayette, helped orchestrate the first festival 杏吧专区 originally conceived to impress a crew of French journalists 杏吧专区 through his work with the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL). A few months later, Ancelet received a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree in French from the then-杏吧专区 of Southwestern Louisiana. He has been a driving force behind the event ever since.
The annual festival eventually moved to Girard Park, and Ancelet became a folklorist, researcher and professor in the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 . Ancelet said the festival evolved into a platform to showcase the research being done in his department and the .
杏吧专区淭he festival was one of the big reveals, one of the big annual events, that shared what we were learning about Cajun and Cr茅ole music on a really big scale,杏吧专区 said Ancelet.
Ancelet said from the beginning the festival was about elevating Cajun and Cr茅ole music and giving it the same prestige and attention in its own community as it enjoyed at folk festivals around the country. Now, performers from Acadiana still draw from the archives of those early festival performances. The Center for Louisiana Studies houses these archival shows and continues to collect recordings from each festival stage to this day.
杏吧专区淟ive performances as a musician are just different than recorded performances, because you have the interaction from the crowd, and that's a lot of what playing music is about, especially for traditional music,杏吧专区 said Megan Brown Constantin, assistant general manager at , the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 public radio affiliate. 杏吧专区淏ecause you're playing for the audience.杏吧专区
Constantin, who has played as a musician on multiple festival stages and taught in the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 , said she still remembers the thrill of announcing bands at the festival as a student in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 French program.
杏吧专区淔or me as a musician and as a French student, it brought a lot of the culture that I was listening to and learning about to life,杏吧专区 she said.
Constantin said KRVS broadcasts Festivals Acadiens et Cr茅oles live through its FM station and live stream, which is accessible around the world, as part of its public service mission. 杏吧专区淲e have a commitment to broadcasting the sound of this region, and this festival captures a lot of that,杏吧专区 she added.
Nathan Williams Jr., better known by his stage name, Lil杏吧专区 Nathan, has played the festival for the past decade. Williams earned his bachelor杏吧专区檚 and master杏吧专区檚 degrees from UL Lafayette and taught accordion in the School of Music. He said as a music instructor, he regularly encouraged his students to attend and perform at the festival. He said he is grateful for the annual event because it provides a combined platform for Cajun and Zydeco music that audiences can appreciate together in one place.
杏吧专区淚t's very important, and it's influential, because we also have so many diverse generations of Cajun and Zydeco musicians. You have the older generation, you have the younger generations, and you get a flavor of each of them,杏吧专区 said Williams.
At the recent symposium preceding the festival杏吧专区檚 50th anniversary hosted by the Center for Louisiana Studies at the , the festival杏吧专区檚 original founders gathered to discuss the intentionality behind the festival杏吧专区檚 programming throughout the years. Organizers agreed that the festival杏吧专区檚 commitment to honoring tradition while intentionally spotlighting new generations of artists has contributed to its long-term success.
Additionally, education, or 杏吧专区渆dutainment,杏吧专区 (as Ancelet is known to call it) serves as a backbone that has helped to preserve and promote Cajun and Cr茅ole culture. Museum exhibits, lectures, film screenings and panel discussions have enhanced the festival杏吧专区檚 live music throughout its history. The Center for Louisiana Studies has played a major role in spearheading these efforts.
John 杏吧专区淧udd杏吧专区 Sharp, the center杏吧专区檚 assistant director for research, said the festival draws people from around the world to Lafayette, and these same people attend the educational programming to learn more about the stories behind the music. However, it杏吧专区檚 the echo of applause from the hometown crowd that has always set the festival apart. Sharp said seeing the 杏吧专区 community, especially, engage with the region杏吧专区檚 music and culture adds significant value to the event each year.
杏吧专区淭hat kind of 杏吧专区 support helps people understand the importance of the festival,杏吧专区 said Sharp. 杏吧专区淚t helps people understand the importance of who we are and what we do.杏吧专区
The 50th takes place in Lafayette's Girard Park on Oct. 11-13.
Photo captions: (From top) The Balfa Brothers with Nathan Abshire perform at the first festival in 1974 at Blackham Coliseum in this photo by Philip Gould. / Dr. Barry Ancelet at the festival in 2023. / Megan Constantin (left) with members of the KRVS team at the festival in 2023. / Lil' Nathan performs at the festival in 2018. / Festival founders speak at a symposium celebrating the festival's 50th anniversary hosted by the Center for Louisiana Studies. / Members of the traditional music student ensemble perform at the festival symposium. Photo credits: (From top) Philip Gould / Courtesy of the Center for Louisiana Studies, Paul Kieu / 杏吧专区