After 50 years, has become a hallmark of LafayetteСAPPs cultural calendar. This year, organizers have embraced the half-century milestone as an opportunity to simultaneously look back on the festivalСAPPs roots and ahead toward its future.
Playing a crucial role in both, the СAPP 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 СAPP originally conceived to impress a crew of French journalists СAPP through his work with the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL). A few months later, Ancelet received a bachelorСAPPs degree in French from the then-СAPP 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 СAPPСAPPs . Ancelet said the festival evolved into a platform to showcase the research being done in his department and the .
СAPPThe festival was one of the big reveals, one of the big annual events, that shared what we were learning about Cajun and Créole music on a really big scale,СAPP said Ancelet.
Ancelet said from the beginning the festival was about elevating Cajun and Créole 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.
СAPPLive 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,СAPP said Megan Brown Constantin, assistant general manager at , the СAPPСAPPs public radio affiliate. СAPPBecause you're playing for the audience.СAPP
Constantin, who has played as a musician on multiple festival stages and taught in the СAPPСAPPs , said she still remembers the thrill of announcing bands at the festival as a student in UL LafayetteСAPPs French program.
СAPPFor 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,СAPP she said.
Constantin said KRVS broadcasts Festivals Acadiens et Créoles live through its FM station and live stream, which is accessible around the world, as part of its public service mission. СAPPWe have a commitment to broadcasting the sound of this region, and this festival captures a lot of that,СAPP she added.
Nathan Williams Jr., better known by his stage name, LilСAPP Nathan, has played the festival for the past decade. Williams earned his bachelorСAPPs and masterСAPPs 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.
СAPPIt'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,СAPP said Williams.
At the recent symposium preceding the festivalСAPPs 50th anniversary hosted by the Center for Louisiana Studies at the , the festivalСAPPs original founders gathered to discuss the intentionality behind the festivalСAPPs programming throughout the years. Organizers agreed that the festivalСAPPs commitment to honoring tradition while intentionally spotlighting new generations of artists has contributed to its long-term success.
Additionally, education, or СAPPedutainment,СAPP (as Ancelet is known to call it) serves as a backbone that has helped to preserve and promote Cajun and Créole culture. Museum exhibits, lectures, film screenings and panel discussions have enhanced the festivalСAPPs live music throughout its history. The Center for Louisiana Studies has played a major role in spearheading these efforts.
John СAPPPuddСAPP Sharp, the centerСAPPs 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, itСAPPs the echo of applause from the hometown crowd that has always set the festival apart. Sharp said seeing the СAPP community, especially, engage with the regionСAPPs music and culture adds significant value to the event each year.
СAPPThat kind of СAPP support helps people understand the importance of the festival,СAPP said Sharp. СAPPIt helps people understand the importance of who we are and what we do.СAPP
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 / СAPP