2013 African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference

     This fall, the African Diaspora Heritage Trail Conference will be in Lafayette, offering notable speakers, cultural tours and fascinating presentations. 

     The conference is scheduled for Oct. 9-12, 2013, and will offer thought-provoking conversations and first-hand experiences of how to preserve, promote and protect sites that are important to the global narrative of people and culture of African descent. 

     Featured presentations are:

     “Africans in Louisiana” by Dr. Ibrahima Seck

     “The Creole Journey to the Promised Land” by Charles Larroque, Dr. Ray Brassieur and Dr. Jihad Muhammad

     “Roots to Routes: Creating the Creole Homeland with Music and Dance” by Nick Spitzer from National Public Radio

     Haitian Mission Project: “International Day for People of African Descent for Recognition, Justice and Development” by Ambassador Savadogo (presentation in French and English)

     Breakout sessions include:

     “Cultural Tourism and Entrepreneurship” with Minister Percy Paris, Wayn Hamilton and Georgina Dhillon, moderator Charles Larroque

     “Development of Local Heritage Trails” with Dr. Kim Dismont Robinson of the ADHT Board of Directors

     “Long Road to Freedom: Civil Rights in Louisiana and Beyond” with Keith Weldon Medley, Kathe Hambrick-Jackson and Melba Danzie Braud, moderator Ted Maris

     “The Creole French Languages and Challenges to Its Viability” with French Creole-speaking citizens, moderator Dr. Ray Brassieur

     “The Role of African American Museums and Repositories: The Resurgence and Responsibility of Institutions Chronicling the Lives, Including Migration Patterns of Africans in the Diaspora” with Dr. Carol Adams, Masequa Myers and Gail Adams, moderator Dr. Sharon Telleen

     “Slaves and Sugar: Transatlantic exchange in Louisiana, the Caribbean and Africa” with Dr. Ibrahima Seck, Jean-Marc Masseaut and Dr. Barry Jean Ancelet, moderator Dr. Jordan Kellman

     In addition, the ADHT Conference gives attendees a chance to experience the Creole culture of South Louisiana first-hand. The opening ceremonies will be held at Vermilionville, a folk life museum featuring the life of the Cajuns and Creoles between 1765 and 1890. The 23-acre park on the Vermilion River features 18 structures in a living history museum setting. A Creole dinner will be served while Grammy Award-winning zydeco musician Chubby Carrier performs for the group. There will also be presentations on "The Healer's Garden" by Creole folklorist Rebecca Henry and Creole Mardi Gras traditions with Avoyelles Indians of Southwest Louisiana.

      The ADHT Conference will close with one of Louisiana's biggest celebrations of the Cajun and Creole cultures of South Louisiana — Festivals Acadiens et Créoles. Since 1977, Festivals Acadiens et Creoles has been preserving the Cajun and Creole heritages of Louisiana through presentation of the music, food, crafts and traditions at this annual fall festival. This year, the festival is honoring the Cajun and Creole Cowboys, who have a longstanding horse culture originating in 1765. This year's festival is also dedicated to one of our most prominent cowboy musicians, Boozoo Chavis, who helped to define zydeco as it was emerging in the 1950s.

      For more information and to register, go to AfricanDiaspora2013.com. To keep up with the latest news, like the ADHT 2013 Facebook page.

Cajun ingenuity

     People in South Louisiana know how to make something out of practically nothing. Recycling is an old concept on the bayou, where making due with what you have is a lifestyle.

     Take the Bathtub Madonna, for instance. South Louisiana residents are heavily Catholic, which is why visitors will see Madonna statues and little altars everywhere. If finances are tight, or the outer grotto has been damaged, an upright bathtub will do the trick to cover the Virgin Mother.

     Another example is staying cool. In the depths of deep summer we will use anything to fill with water and chill out. 

     That’s why Downtown Lafayette and Townsquare Media are celebrating the Hottest Night of the Year, Aug. 23, 2013, with a family-friendly, summer blowout party from 7-10 p.m. at Parc Sans Souci in downtown Lafayette. There will be water slides, fire dancers, the Sans Souci fountain (feel free to jump in), cold beverages and DJ Digital from Hot 107.9! After the sun goes down, there will be a live performance from One Trick Pony. Best of all, admission is free! 

     But here’s where Cajun ingenuity comes in. The party includes a contest for the best Pickup Pool prize. In other words, bring your pickup trucks, fill up the cab with water and saw us your best pool idea.

Learn Cajun culture at annual Acadian Culture Day

     Want to learn all about the Cajun culture. Here’s your chance. The Bayou Vermilion District celebrates its annual Acadian Culture Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11, 2013, at Vermilionville. The event happens near National Acadian Day, held every year on Aug. 15. 

     Vermilionville’s Acadian Culture Day focuses on family folklore and will include tarte cooking demonstrations, artisan demonstrations such as trapping, creating Job’s tear rosaries, quilting, wood carving, Mardi Gras capuchon and mask making, open hearth cooking and old-time washing and clothesline hanging. In addition, there will be canoe trips on Le Petit Bayou, games and crafts for children including tintamarre noise makers, rag dolls and Acadiana flag making and sharing circles on “Healing Traditions & Superstitions.”

     Best of all, it’s free. 

     The film “Tintamarre — On the Trail of Acadians in North America” by André Gladu and “T’Galop: A Louisiana Horse Story” by Conni Castille will be screened and La Recolte Band and the Al Berard Family Band will perform in the Performance Center with dance lessons beforehand. 

     Each year for Acadian Culture Day Vermilionville presents a representative of the community with the Acadian Cultural Preservation Award in recognition of outstanding lifetime contributions to the preservation of the culture and the community. This year’s recipient is Richard Guidry for his impact on multiple levels of the Acadian community.

     Past award recipients include: the Michot Family, Pat Mire, Aldus Roger, Floyd Sonnier, Camey Doucet, Warren Perrin, Eddie Richard, A.J. LeBlanc, Karl Breaux, Pete Bergeron, Elaine Clément, Dr. Carl A. Brasseaux, Dr. Ray Brassieur and Edward Cazayoux.

     For more information, visit http://www.vermilionville.org.

Bring your dancing shoes when you visit Lafayette

     In Lafayette, we dance all the time. On any given night, you can find dance floors buzzing with the tunes of Cajun and zydeco music, or rock, blues, folk and other genres. 

     Here are a few places that offer live music and dancing:

     Randol’s serves up fabulous fresh seafood, and also live music and dancing nightly. The dance floor’s extensive and on many nights you’ll find Lafayette’s best two-stepping and waltzing, willing to give you pointers. 

     Blue Moon Saloon & Guesthouse is both a hostel and a live music venue. It’s dance floor is small but that doesn’t keep people from kicking up their heals.

     Prejean’s is another fabulous Cajun restaurant that offers live music nightly. There’s no formal dance floor, per se, but no one — and we really mean this — will ever complain if you get up and dance.

     You can view dancers waltzing and two-stepping in videos on Pont Breaux’s web site. The Breaux Bridge restaurant serves up great Cajun food with its nightly music and dancing. 

     La Poussiere Cajun Dancehall in Breaux Bridge is one of the oldest authentic Cajun dancehalls in Acadiana. It’s been labeled “La Petite Cathedrale de Musique Cajien” or “The Little Cathedral of Cajun Music.” 

     For authentic zydeco music, check out El Sid-O’s in Lafayette and Slim’s Y-Ki-Ki in Opelousas. We’re talking the real deal here. 

     In Henderson, choose between Angelle’s Whiskey Landing and McGee’s Landing, restaurant-live music venues on the edge of the Atchafalaya Swamp. Talk about ambience!

More nature trails are coming!

    Lafayette Consolidated Government has been awarded two federal grants to help fund the expansion of the multi-use Atakapa-Ishak Trail and the Acadiana Hills Bike Route/AI Trail Pedestrian Infill. Both projects will provide roughly 11.4 miles of new bicycle and pedestrian facilities within the Lafayette area.
    And cyclists can look for “Share the Road” signs now installed on popular bike routes in the northeast section of Lafayette Parish.

      A Share the Road Bike Ride is scheduled Saturday, July 20, 2013, in celebration.
     The Atakapa-Ishak Trail is a multi-use trail named for the indigenous Indian tribe of the same name. When completed, the bike and hiking trail will connect Lafayette to the nearby communities of Breaux Bridge and St. Martinville. In Breaux Bridge, the joint-use trailhead at Parc des Ponts will serve users of both the AI Trail and the Bayou Teche Paddle Trail.
    Phase 1 of the AI Trail opened in February 2011; Phase 2 is currently being constructed and should open for use by late Fall 2013.
     The other grant will help fund the Acadiana Hills bike route and pedestrian infill along the AI Trail Phase 1, providing signage and pavement markings plus fund pedestrian infrastructure infill.
    Many cyclists enjoy touring the rural roads and highways of northeast Lafayette Parish so Lafayette Consolidated Government fabricated and installed the Share the Road signs that now mark the more highly used routes.
     “In Louisiana, motorists are required by law to share the road with bicyclists, except where bicycles are expressly forbidden, such as on interstate highways,” explained Jennifer Severson, the bikeway planner who worked on the project. “When passing a cyclist, motorists must maintain a minimum three feet of distance between the motor vehicle and the bicyclist. The Share the Road signs remind motorists to be aware of cyclists along these routes and provide the space necessary for both motorists and cyclists to coexist safely on the road.”
     Both the Rotary Club of Lafayette North and the Tri Cajuns Triathlon Club, which trains on these routes, encouraged this project.
    BikeLafayette, a local bicyclist advocacy organization, will host a Share the Road Ride on Saturday, July 20, 2013, beginning at 8 a.m. Routes of varying lengths are planned, all departing from and returning to the parking area at Acadiana Park on East Alexander Street. The ride will begin with opening comments and a brief ceremony. All cyclists are welcome. Visit bikelafayette.org for more information.

Piecing together Lafayette

    Quilting is a vibrant art in Acadiana — with a French accent!
    On Tuesday, July 16, 2013, the Lafayette Consolidated Government elected officials and staff and members of Quilters’ Guild Acadienne will unveil the Marquis de Lafayette Quilt at 11 a.m. in the Lafayette Consolidated Government atrium at City Hall, 705 W. University Ave.

    The original commemorative quilt features “Lafayette and Washington, an Enduring Friendship,” showcasing how the two men — and two nations — became friends during the American Revolution and helped forged a nation. The quilt was designed and created by members of the Quilters’ Guild Acadienne using the techniques of hand and machine quilting, hand appliqué, embroidery, couching and fabric inking.
    The Marquis quilt was created to honor the 250th anniversary of the birth of the Marquis de LaFayette, a native of France and American Revolutionary War hero and for whom the City of Lafayette is named. It has been displayed in Washington, D.C. and other venues.
    The Marquis quilt will be on permanent loan and displayed at City Hall where it can be viewed by the public.
    In addition, this weekend brings a Quilt Show to neighboring Krotz Springs, where quilts, a silent auction and a boutique will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, July 13, at the Alon Recreation Center, 324 S. Levee Road in Krotz Springs, about an hour outside Lafayette.
    On Thursdays in July, Les Coudre Points quilt group will meet at 1:30 p.m. for a quilting “en français” in Arnaudville. Si vous êtes débutant ou si vous souhaitez faire fonctionner à nouveau, rejoignez-nous. (If you are just starting or wish to get working again, join us.) For more information, call (337) 754-7115.
    The Borne Quilter, a quilting shop at 1507 Kaliste Saloom Road, offers quilting classes and owner Renee-Claire Borne speaks French as well.

Where are the fireworks?

    If you’re wondering who’s offering a pyrotechnic show this Fourth of July, here’s an easy run-down on fireworks displays for Lafayette and surrounding towns.

    Lafayette — Fireworks begins at 9:15 p.m. in Parc International downtown, part of the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra’s “Red, White and Boom!” performance and celebration which begins at 5 p.m. (Read our previous blog!)
    Youngsville — Fireworks begin at 9 p.m. at Sugar Mill Pond Town Center, 101 Waterview Road in Youngsville.
    Broussard — Fireworks kick off at 9 p.m. at Home Depot, 213 St. Nazaire Road in Broussard. Hot dogs and drinks will be on sale at the store beginning at 5 p.m., with all sales benefiting Miles Perret Cancer Services.
    Eunice — For almost 30 years, the former Mayor and licensed pyrotechnic, Kenneth Peart, orchestrates a 30-minute display beginning at 9 p.m. at Eunice Recreation Complex, 461 Sittig Road in Eunice.  
    Krotz Springs — Fireworks on the River begins at 9 p.m. at Nall Park, 562 Front St. in Krotz Springs. Prior to the fireworks, there will be music, children’s activities, hot dogs and watermelon.
    Erath – The 67th annual Erath Fourth of July celebration includes a 9 p.m. fireworks display, but you might want to get there early for the 10 a.m. water fight between area fire departments or the July Fourth parade at 5 p.m. with live music afterwards.
    New Iberia - The New Iberia Independence Day Parade begins at 6 p.m., followed by music and fireworks, at Main Street and Bouligny Plaza.