You can find Cajun and Creole culture in Lafayette, the “Heart of Cajun Country” as it’s referred to in tourist brochures, but you’ll find much more cultural authenticity outside the city. Smaller towns and communities are where you’ll discover the best zydeco dancehalls, the best oysters, and the best crawfish. It’s where you’ll find swamp [...]
Music, cultural experiences and good times are incessant affairs on the bayou. But the serious tourist who wants the real authentic stuff or the best Acadiana offers won’t discover it all from a brochure or the local tourist bureau. In fact, when an uninformed visitor first enters the city of Lafayette, the “heart of Cajun [...]
At the writing of this article the announcement of the Grammy Awards was still a future event, meaning the fate of Beausoleil’s winning a Grammy in this year’s “Contemporary Folk” category was still up in the air. But band members of South Louisiana’s most popular and progressive Cajun band interviewed for this article were quite [...]
Cajuns and Creoles are universally known for their “laissez les bons temps rouler” (“Let the good times roll!”) spirit. But Mardi Gras in Acadiana is truly a time for Cajuns and Creoles alike to indulge the pleasures of the flesh. Whether your fancy is a city-style Mardi Gras ball in Lafayette, or chasing chickens on [...]
On the dark, winding, old Breaux Bridge highway, a neon sign outside the former King Creole club flashes: “Saturday at 9 p.m. Fernest and the Thunders.” Inside it’s 9:30 p.m., but Fernest is behind the bar using the pay phone. He hangs up the phone and heads for the stage. Only a handful here tonight [...]
“Honey, in a bar on in a church, it doesn’t make no difference—it’s all the same.” Zydeco. More than just South Louisiana black man’s music, it’s his sustenance. Consumed like beans and rice and cherished like religion. A mesh of cultures and musical patterns into one distinct sound. A social institution where the functions of [...]
Tuning into the South Louisiana radio scene in Lafayette or Eunice either takes a little word of mouth or else a lot of trial and error. Not a lot is really advertised in either town, but both towns offer excellent Cajun and Creole radio programs that are hardly found anywhere else in the world. By [...]
Grab your dancing partner, pack up your dancing shoes and head over to Lafayette this month. Festivals Acadiens, the Cajun equivalent of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, takes place there from September 13 through 17. Lafayette is the unofficial heart of Cajun country, and this is its annual celebration of all things Cajun, [...]
Looking for a hot time over the Labor Day weekend? With South Louisiana’s sultry summer weather and a zydeco festival, you’ve got it! The seventh annual Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival takes place Saturday, September 2 at the Southern Development Farm in the rural community of Plaisance, between Opelousas and Ville Platte. If you’re a lover [...]
Just over a two-hour drive from New Orleans and located in the heart of Acadiana is Lafayette, a city of 92,000 residents and the unofficial capital of Cajun Country. Good music, like good food, is a staple of Cajun life, and like the ubiquitous Cajun cuisine, it looks as if the world is catching on [...]
