Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, the world’s largest free Cajun and Creole music festival, is coming back stronger than ever in 2022. This year’s theme, “Le Grande Retour” or “The Great Return,” promises a tour de force of Cajun and Creole musicians and an immersive cultural experience filled with flavorful South Louisiana cuisine, crafts and workshops. The Festival Committee has planned two festivals in one year: March and October. The last time Festivals Acadiens et Créoles was held twice in one year was in 1980.
“In 2021, when we felt it best to postpone our event for health and safety reasons, we decided to hold the makeup in March 2022, in part to honor our own roots,” says Festivals founder Barry Ancelet. “Festivals Acadiens et Créoles was born in March of 1974 as a special concert sponsored by CODOFIL and held in Blackham Coliseum. We are now, of course, a larger, more complex outdoor affair, filling Lafayette's Girard Park with a wide range of Cajun and Creole music, dance, cuisine, crafts and visual arts. But the spirit of that first self-celebration is still what guides us every year as we prepare and present our annual event.”
The full-scale, spring festival will take place in Girard Park from March 18-20, 2022. Festivals Acadiens et Créoles plans to release its music lineup for March on Feb. 3.
Other festival events will include the official race Tour des Attakapas, Atelier workshops to be held at the Hilliard Art Museum, Bayou Food Festival, Louisiana Craft Fair and more.
The Official Pin and Poster for March will be revealed at the Hilliard Art Museum on Feb. 11 at 6 p.m. Tent rental spaces in Girard Park are available, Festival Friends are appreciated and volunteers are still needed over the three days. Signups for both can be found on the website at festivalsacadiens.com.
Festivals Acadiens et Créoles can trace its roots back to the first Tribute to Cajun Music Festival organized by CODOFIL in 1974. Festivals Acadiens et Créoles was officially established in 1977 with components of music, food and crafts. Since then, the event has grown into a multi-day affair taking place during the second full weekend of October each year in Lafayette, La. Festivals operates as a nonprofit corporation and is run by a community board and volunteers.
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