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Heart of Cajun country ready to jump into third century
By Tom Adkinson
October 6, 2023
Zydeco music stars Mike (accordion) and Anthony (washboard) Dopsie rock out at Lafayette’s Festival International, a five-day blowout every April. Image courtesy Lafayette Travel
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LAFAYETTE, La. – Lafayette Parish is the fourth-smallest parish in Louisiana measured by square miles, but when measured on the “let the good times roll” calculator, it’s at the other end of the scale.
The parish has been celebrating its bicentennial throughout 2023 and still has more good times on tap before launching into its third century. Upcoming events include the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles (Oct. 13-15), the Boudin Cook-off and Bacon Festival (Oct. 21) and a Veterans Day parade (Nov. 11).
The parish and its major city, Lafayette, are the hub of Acadiana, a region that certainly doesn’t have its roots in historical good times. This bayou country west of New Orleans is where thousands of French-speaking Acadians (abbreviated now to Cajuns) settled after being exiled from Atlantic Canada by the British in the mid-1700s.
The Acadians persevered and developed one of America’s distinct regional cultures. When lines were drawn for Lafayette Parish in 1823, it made perfect sense that its namesake was Marquis de Lafayette, the French hero of the American Revolutionary War.
Today, tourism is a vital part of Lafayette’s life and economy, and the locals know how to show you a good time as they celebrate their culture. For instance, the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles doesn’t open with a mundane ribbon cutting. Instead, there’s a boudin cutting.
The Boudin Pig greets you at Don’s Specialty Meats in Scott, a small town in Lafayette Parish that sells almost 3 million pounds of boudin a year. Image by Tom Adkinson
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(For the uninitiated, budin is the ultimate Cajun snack food – a slightly spicy sausage-like treat with multiple recipes that generate ongoing debates about whose boudin is best. Don’t dare leave the region without trying some. The Lafayette Parish town of Scott is the “Boudin Capital of the World,” according to the Louisiana legislature, and has a half-dozen boudin joints around a single interchange on I-10.)
Lafayette Parish’s bicentennial has been a source of smiles throughout 2023. The parish is ready to enter its third century of hospitality in 2024. Image courtesy Lafayette Travel
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“This (the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles) is when you can experience all aspects of our culture,” said Ben Berthelot, executive director of the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau, noting that festival activity is in the heart of the city at Girard Park next to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The university, by the way, has a swamp right on campus, allowing you to see alligators and other critters without leaving the city.
Festivals are a great way to enjoy Lafayette, but if they don’t meet your schedule, there’s a year-round attraction that will immerse you in Cajun culture. It is Vermilionville, a representation of a village from 1765-1890 featuring 19 restored and reproduced buildings. Real people bring it to life.
It takes a strong back to pull a ferry across of neck of Bayou Vermilion at Vermilionville, a recreated Cajun settlement. Image by Tom Adkinson
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Meet woodcarvers, weavers, spinners, accordion players, fiddle players and more, and sample authentic recipes at La Cuisine de Maman (Mama’s Kitchen), a restaurant where excellent gumbo competes for attention with chicken and sausage jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, shrimp etouffee and other temptations.
A server at La Cuisine de Maman (Mama’s Kitchen) at Vermilionville shows off a platter of Cajun meat pies. Image by Tom Adkinson
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For a contemporary culinary experience, seek out Cajun Food Tours. Owner Marie Ducote was a history teacher, but she left the classroom, bought a bus, and began showcasing Acadiana’s downhome food scene.
“A tour, and you get to eat, too? How cool is that!” she said, laughingly explaining the core of her business model. “Don’t eat before you come, and wear your stretchy pants.”
You don’t have to get outside the city limits of Lafayette to see Louisiana’s best-known reptile. This alligator is in a swamp at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Image by Tom Adkinson
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A few hours with Ducote verifies that Lafayette is one happy place. And she can prove that by teaching you how the locals pronounce Lafayette.
Say “LAUGH-ah-ette,” and you’ll fit right in.
Trip-planning resources: LafayetteTravel.com, BayouVermilionDistrict.org and CajunFoodTours.com
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