South Louisiana is home to the greatest free party on earth, a colorful celebration known as Mardi Gras. But what most people see on television the weekend before Lent starts much earlier. The entire Mardi Gras season runs several winter weeks in Lafayette and throughout the Acadiana region and…
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Our Mardi Gras season, which stretches from the Twelfth Night of Christmas or Jan. 6 to Mardi Gras day, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday and the advent of Lent, is filled with extravagant balls and pageantry like no other. Organizations that host Carnival parades, balls, and pageants are known in…
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Most people recognize Mardi Gras as parades, masked balls, and other urban events, but in Cajun Country, a unique side of Mardi Gras takes place in the countryside and dates back centuries. In Acadiana, a region surrounding Lafayette, many towns celebrate the ancient Carnival tradition of courirs…
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Carnival is the season of merriment leading up to Mardi Gras, the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent. During Carnival, south Louisiana celebrates with parades and other special events. Krewes are the organizations that sponsor the parades, which are sometimes preceded by krewe…
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In the 1930s, folklorists John and Alan Lomax visited South Louisiana to record Cajun and Creole songs for the Library of Congress Archive of American Folk Song (now the Archive of Folk Culture). It was the first time someone recorded Cajun and Creole songs on tape for archival purposes. In 1964…
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The U.S. Civil Rights Trail marks important landmarks, primarily in Southern states, where activists challenged segregation in churches, courthouses, schools, and other sites in the 1950s and 1960s. In Louisiana, interpretive markers, each explaining the stories of the people who worked for equality…
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During the last week of April, residents are decked out in hats, dancing shoes, and smiles along the streets of downtown Lafayette. Refrains of "Happy festival" are everywhere. At the apex of spring, Lafayette's downtown turns festival mode for the annual Festival International de Louisiane, the…
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For a century, Louisiana has played a major role in the country’s oil and gas development, and Lafayette has served as a major spoke in the industry’s wheel. That’s why, in 1952, Lafayette businessman and philanthropist Maurice Heymann envisioned a section of town to house businesses associated with…
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Lafayette has many new happenings these days, which means plenty more ways to have fun! Check out what’s new in Lafayette. Topgolf Louisiana’s second Topgolf venue opened in December at 301 Meadow Farm Road off Ambassador Caffery Parkway. There are 60 outdoor climate-controlled hitting bays that…
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Most people think of Mardi Gras as our season of merriment before Lent, but many of our traditions, such as the sweet and decorative king cake, begin with Christmas. The season of Carnival begins on Jan. 6, known as the Epiphany or Twelfth Night, the day the three kings visited the Christ Child. In…
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