Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is set to kick off at Girard Park from Oct. 8-11. The festival is a four-day celebration of Cajun and Creole culture, showcasing South Louisiana’s biggest musical influences just a few steps from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette campus.
Patrick Mould, the festival’s vice president of Programming and Development, said that the mission of the festival is to put a focus on this unique culture, and share it with people.
“It’s a way for us to have a self-celebration of who we are,” he said. “How we eat, how we dance, how we make art, how we speak.”
This year, Festivals Acadiens is partnering with the Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage as part of its “Of the People: The Smithsonian Festival of Festivals” initiative in commemoration of the nation’s 250th anniversary. One of just 34 festivals nationwide to be featured in the program, Festivals Acadiens will see expanded activities and events designed to give audiences a more hands-on experience.
Festivalgoers can examine Louisiana culture at the pre-festival symposium, enjoy presentations from cultural tradition-bearers at the Folklife Village, learn about the diverse languages of the region at the Language Lounge, and explore Louisiana’s waterfowl at the Waterfowl Heritage Area.
This partnership will also see the debut of a new stage, Scéne ’76, which will serve as a tribute to the first Festivals Acadiens et Créoles that Girard Park hosted in 1976, and will “explore some of the musical influences that the Acadians and the Creoles heard when they first came here,” according to Mould.
“We’re going to have Irish fiddle tunes, some country music, some blues, old-time Appalachian music, all the music that influenced Cajun and zydeco music,” he said.
UL Lafayette's relationship with Festivals Acadiens et Créoles dates back to its founding in 1974, when Dr. Barry Jean Ancelet, head of the Modern Languages department and now a professor emeritus of Francophone studies at the University, was part of the team that helped put together the inaugural event.
Since then, the festival has grown to include other University entities, including the Center for Louisiana Studies, the Traditional Music program, and KRVS, the University's radio station that broadcasts performances live throughout the multiple-day event.
"There's been a symbiotic relationship between the festival and the University," said Mould. "We recognize the cultural assets that they have in place, and bringing them to the table highlights what's going on at the University from a cultural standpoint."
Dr. Gwendolen von Einsiedel, an associate professor of music and the Dr. Tommy Comeaux Endowed Chair for Traditional Music at UL Lafayette, said that having the festival near the University’s campus gives UL Lafayette students the opportunity to participate in the festival, and is the perfect way to introduce South Louisiana culture to students who may not have grown up here.
“It helps them feel the heartbeat of this place and see how music ties people together across age and background,” she said. “A jam session is one of the quickest ways to break down boundaries. You don’t need to know anyone, you just need to listen and join in.”
The UL Lafayette Traditional Music program hosts the festival’s Jam Ça! tent, a hands-on performance area where guests are encouraged to bring their own instruments and play along.
This year’s music lineup features a range of prominent bands, from seasoned local acts like Wayne Toups and Jeffery Broussard to younger artists like The Holiday Playgirls, and even international bands such as Cajun Åland. These bands will be performing throughout the day across seven different performance areas spread throughout Girard Park.
Einsiedel said that this balance of influences is essential to keeping Cajun and Creole tradition alive. “As the saying goes, tradition is tending the flame, not worshipping the ashes,” she said. “Every year Festivals honors the roots while making room for what’s new.”
Mould said that he is most excited to witness the evolution of some of the acts who have also been featured in previous years’ lineups, saying that this festival serves as a kind of “Super Bowl” for many of these artists.
“They’re coming to those stages to show people where they are musically at this particular moment in time,” he said, “and that’s what I get excited about.”
He also hinted that some of the festival’s most memorable moments may come unexpectedly in what he calls, “cosmic moments,” when an artist takes their music in a direction that may surprise audiences.
“There’s going to be moments on that festival grounds where you’re going to see something musically that you did not expect to happen,” he said.
Before the live music kicks off, however, the festival will begin with the premiere of Dry Bones, a documentary series produced by the CLS that explores a handful of contemporary musicians as they reinvent traditional Cajun and Creole folk songs by reworking old recordings from the CLS archive.
John “Pudd” Sharp, assistant director for Research and Archives with the Center for Louisiana Studies, said the series is intended to help spread awareness of the archive and encourage more people to explore its contents. “It was just an effort to show the whole process, the kind of work that goes into re-imagining and re-recording,” he said, “and to shed some light on that for people who aren’t part of that process.”
With a legacy that now spans over 50 years, Festival Acadiens et Créoles serves as a barometer for a South Louisiana culture that continues to survive and thrive. “It’s a community gathering,” Sharp said. “You see old friends, you make new ones, you dance with people, and you share in traditions that you participate in, not just watch.”
Sharp added that he believes the local community takes immense pride in carrying on the traditions of the region and is the secret to the festival’s continued success.
“The news that Cajun and Creole culture is dying is wrong,” he said. “Every year, you can come to the park and see for yourself that it is not going anywhere.”
Visit the Festivals Acadiens website for more information and a complete schedule of events.
(Editor's note: This story is by Connor Bergeron, a senior communication major at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.)
Photo caption: Dancers at the 2025 Festivals Acadiens et Créoles. This year's event kicks off at Girard Park from Oct. 8-11. (Photo credit: University of Louisiana at Lafayette)