(LAFAYETTE, LA) – For 52 years, Festivals Acadiens et Créoles has honored our Cajun and Creole traditions while giving new voices a stage. This year, it’s doing it with some help from the Smithsonian. I remember my first Festivals Acadiens back in the early 80s when we moved from New Orleans to Lafayette, and it’s an understatement to say it was a bit of a culture shock. Since then the shock has worn off and a love of Acadian culture has taken over, from the music, the food and the story of how the Acadian culture came to be.
Festivals Acadiens Joins the Smithsonian’s “Festival of Festivals”
The Smithsonian picked Festivals Acadiens et Créoles as one of only 34 festivals nationwide for its “Festival of Festivals,” part of the celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. This year’s theme is Revolution and Evolution: Celebrating 250 Years of Cultural Fusion on the Bayou. Few places tell that story better than Acadiana.
“Dry Bones” Docu-Series Premieres October 8
Things kick off Thursday, October 8, at the Acadiana Center for the Arts with the premiere of Dry Bones. In the series, today’s musicians listen to archival recordings from UL Lafayette’s Center for Louisiana Studies and reimagine them. It’s your only chance to see every episode in one sitting before they’re released individually this fall. The afternoon and evening sessions include screenings, conversations with the artists, and live performances. Tickets are available here.
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Scène ’76 Returns to Girard Park
The festival is bringing back its original stage, Scène ’76, near the Girard Park pond. It’s a tribute to the first stage the festival had after moving from Blackham Coliseum in 1976. The lineup mixes South Louisiana music with other American styles, featuring guests like cellist Leyla McCalla and fiddler Nokosee Fields.
Right next door, the Waterfowl Heritage Area will feature handmade duck calls and decoys, restored pirogues, and duck blind demonstrations.
Never-Before-Seen Elemore Morgan Jr. Photos at the Hilliard
The Hilliard Art Museum will show 23 photos by Elemore Morgan Jr. of Cajun and Creole musicians at the Smithsonian’s 1976 Festival of American Folklife in Washington, D.C. Many of them have never been seen publicly. The exhibit runs October 9 through December 19, 2026.
More Conversations, Crafts, and Louisiana French
Scène Atelier is expanding with talks on Juré, La-La, the roots of zydeco, and Louisiana French songwriting, including sessions led by Poet Laureate Kristi Guillory and song scholar Megan Constantin, plus a fiddle summit with Renée Reed. The new Folklife Village showcases Indigenous, Acadian, and Creole crafts. The Language Lounge at the Hilliard offers casual French immersion with local language keepers…