Festivals Acadiens is a three day party celebrating Cajun life and its influences and roots.  Actually it is a collection of events that features:

Friday:  Kids Alive (with Mouton Noir) and Downtown Alive (with Bruce Daigrepont and Dwayne Dopsie - free music events held in Parc Sans Souci)

Saturday and Sunday:  The Festival de Musique Acadiens, this year dedicated to Adam Hebert (photo above),  with two music stages

Louisiana Folk Roots jam tent

When I first started attending this festival, in 1994, I thought of the long weekend as a 3 day dance-a-thon, and in fact it still can be that.  If you were looking for  a non-stop dance party, besides festival events (which started at 11am and ended at 7pm), there were lots of bands playing at the local clubs at night (this year you could see Steve Riley, Geno Delafose, Step Rideau, Feu Follett, Walter Mouton, Keith Frank, Terrance Simien, The Blue Runners, Terry & the Zydeco Bad Boys, and The Lucky Playboys among others) plus you could also attend Cafe des Amis' zydeco breakfast on Saturday morning.              (photo-left Louie Michot)

For myself, I have of late been particularly drawn to the Heritage Stage, where there is an attempt to put the music in context,  add some conversation, and offer some interesting pairings of musicians.   Highlights for me included:

The Traiteurs, with their special guests of Zachary Richard, Hadley Castille & Marce Lacouture.  From the audience's reaction to  their set, you would have thought you were at a rock concert... people were cheering and screaming in appreciation after every song.     The Traiteurs were formed to raise money for a musical endowment at ULL in memory of local musician/physician Tommy Comeaux, who died in a tragic bicycling accident (Comeaux was a member of such seminal South Louisiana bands as Beausoleil, Basin Brothers, Clickin' Chickens and Coteau).  With Sonny Landreth, Al Berard, Errol Verret, Tony Latiolais, Gary Newman, Danny Kimble (all major players in the Acadiana music scene), the Traiteurs don't rehearse, haven't recorded, and basically just jam and groove on traditional Cajun numbers with all their profits going towards the endowment fund.   Most of the music is heads down jamming but when showman and elder statesman Hadley Castille got on stage to play, his ebullient personality and swinging fiddle put the young guys on notice and he stole the show.  Other special guests during the set included Zachary Richard and Marce Lacouture.

Creole Music Workshop

I did tear myself away from the Heritage Stage to see Ray Abshire & Friends, Charivari,  Balfa Toujours and Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys on the Main Stage.  Ray Abshire (photo -right) first played at the very 1st Festival Acadiens in 1974 with the Balfa Brothers and it was moving to now see him now on stage leading a band consisting of some of the leading lights of the next generation of Cajun players:   Courtney Granger and Kevin Wimmer (both of Balfa Toujours) and  Louis and Andre Michot (of the Lost Bayou Ramblers).  During their set, Balfa Toujours brought up festival honoree Adam Hebert to play a few songs: some of his compositions you've heard so often, you thought they had been around forever: including "La Point Aux Pins" and "Madeline".    Finally Steve Riley (photo-left) and the Mamou Playboys (who have played every Festival Acadiens since its inception) put on a set that showcased songs from their new CD "Bon Reve".   A large crowd of loyal fans danced in the warm rain and cheered them on.