Steampunk visits Lafayette

      The Steampunk and Maker's Fair, a joint adventure between Cité des Arts and the Lafayette Science Museum, will be 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013, at both attractions and the Lafayette Public Library in downtown Lafayette. 

      The Steampunk movement started as a literary genre that is associated with the industrialization of the late 1800s and the futuristic writings of Jules Verne. It has expanded into music, costuming, accessories and invention. Enter the “Maker's,” who are both inventors and producers that bring their unique ideas to life. The “marriage” of these two unique groups will showcase Lafayette as an incubator for creative people and inventors, including existing businesses.  

     The Festival will feature live performance, including music, contests of all kinds (fashion, literary, beards, etc.) demonstrations, food and vendors. (The Louisiana Beard and Facial Hair Association will be organizing the Fair Beard and Mustache Competition.) Special performances for "Steampunk after Dark" will be an original musical by Travis Guillory titled “The Undertaker and His Wife” and a performance of "Boom Boom Burlesque" at Cité Des Arts.

     InventureWorks will be organizing "The Vault" pitch event for University of Louisiana-Lafayette and South Louisiana Community College students of Industrial Design, Architecture and Engineering. Up to 10 students will be invited to participate with winners receiving valuable prizes as well as mentorship from the UL College of Business Administration and incubation at Louisiana Economic Development Authority’s Opportunity Machine. Ideas should be submitted electronically by Oct. 25 to the InventureWorks website at www.inventureworks.com/submit/. Visit www.inventureworks.com/vault for more information.

Fall into great music with Acadiana Symphony Orchestra

     Join Maestro Mariusz Smolij and the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra this fall for three fun-filled and unique concerts.

     On Saturday, Oct. 19, 2013, the orchestra presents “Legacy of the Atchafalaya Masterwork Concert No. 2” at 6 p.m. at the Heymann Performing Arts Center. The guest artists will be 2013 Grammy winners The Harlem Quartet performing beloved American classics and Christine Balfa will sing two ballads written by Glenn McClure honoring our Atchafalaya Basin, the country's largest river swamp. Beethoven’s bold and glorious masterpiece rounds out the program. 

     Bring the kids Saturday, Nov. 9, to watch Disney’s “Fantasia” on a large screen with the original soundtrack performed by the ASO. The fun begins with a pre-concert VIP party for children with musical games, dancing, face painting and cookies and milk with a real princess and other special guests. The movie with accompanying orchestra begins at 4 p.m., all at the Heymann Performing Arts Center.

     For the holidays, it’s “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, at the Heymann Performing Arts Center.

     For tickets to these and other ASO events, click here.

Spooky fun in Acadiana

     Monster Energy Drinks and the Lafayette Science Museum Foundation present the Museum of Fear on select days from Friday, Oct. 11, 2013 until Halloween night. Admission is $10 at the door and all proceeds directly benefit the Lafayette Science Museum. The haunted house is built on the third floor of the museum located on Jefferson Street in the heart of downtown Lafayette and is not suitable for very young children. Prepare to be scared! Information: (337) 291-5544, visit their Facebook page.

     Throughout October (and after Halloween) are ghostly walks given by Haunted Lafayette Tours. Tours include ghost tours, secret society tours and haunted pub crawls on Oct. 26 and 31.

     On Oct. 12-13 and 19-20, re-enactors will share stories of past citizens of the Opelousas area among cemetery tombs in “Voices from our Past: St. Landry Catholic Church Cemetery Tours.” Tours are 6 p.m., 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sundays. Admission is $10 per person. Information: (337) 942-6552.

     On Saturday, Oct. 26, there will be several spooky activities, beginning with the Boo Bayou Fall Carnival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Vermilionville. 

     Lafayette author Cheré Coen signs copies of “Haunted Lafayette” from noon to 1 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, then joins mediums Vicky Cormier and Allyson Glynn Schram and Cajun Traiteur Becca Begnaud for a “Coffee, Tea and Spirit” discussion from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Little Big Cup in nearby Arnaudville. Coen will also tell spooky tales at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, at Carpe Diem Espresso Bar downtown, part of the “Otherworldly Voices” literary series.

     Downtown Lafayette’s Movies in the Parc presents “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) screening at dusk Oct 26 in the Downtown Drive-In Parking Lot, 725 Jefferson St. Gates open at 6 p.m. and admission is $2, children ages 5 and under admitted free. 

     Let out your inner zombie at the Lafayette Zombie Walk, which begins at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at Parc San Souci in downtown Lafayette. The event is free for the walking dead and all ages welcome. After the walk, all zombies arrive back at Parc San Souci for music, activities, drinks and food.
     The University of Louisiana-Lafayette Symphony presents its annual all-ages Halloween Concert on Tuesday, Oct. 29, in Angelle Hall Auditorium on the UL campus. Orchestra members will wear costumes and perform spooky music, such as "Phantom of the Opera," "March to the Scaffold" and "Die Fledermaus (The Bat)." There will be guest appearances by Shawn Roy, Garth Alper, Jeff George, the UL Dance Department, UL Chorus and Lafayette Ballet Theatre. Admission is $8 for adults, free to ages 17 and younger and UL and staff members with ID. All proceeds benefit the UL Lafayette Orchestra Program.
     Finally, on the big night of Halloween, trick or treating hours will be between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. within the City of Lafayette. The First Baptist Church of Lafayette will host its annual free Fall Fest from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., rain or shine, at the church at 1100 Lee Ave. downtown. Activities include a fun jump, games and "Trunk or Treat." Several food trucks will be available.
     Also on Halloween, as a fundraiser for Cite des Arts cultural arts center, there will be a special 7:30 p.m. screening of "Birth of the Living Dead," a documentary on the making of "Night of the Living Dead," plus a burlesque performance by Boom Boom Review at the Acadiana Center for the Arts. The Boom Boom Review will also perform at 9:30 p.m. Halloween night at Cite des Arts, 109 Vine St. in downtown Lafayette.

Un tour, s’il vous plait? Acadian Village to offer French tours

     LARC’s Acadian Village, a historic recreation of a Cajun-Creole village with authentic historic homes and buildings, is offering guided tours in English and French during Festivals Acadien et Creole (Oct. 11-13) this year.  

     Allen Simon, Acadian Village resident tour guide, will discuss Acadian culture, history and heritage and the history of LARC’s Acadian Village during the tours.  

     These special bilingual tours will be given at the following times and dates:

     Friday, Oct. 11 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.;

     Saturday, Oct. 12 at noon and 2 p.m.;

     Sunday, Oct. 13 at 2 p.m.; and 

     Monday, Oct. 14 at 2 p.m.

     For more information, visit www.acadianvillage.org