Lafayette is located in the heart of “Acadiana” and is the unofficial capital of “Cajun Country.” The term Acadiana has come to signify all that is great about South Louisiana. It encompasses the joie de vivreso well known in Cajun Country, the cheerful attitude exhibited by the people who live here and love of the land settled generations ago by their ancestors.
The metropolis of 120,000 displays an extraordinary mixture of tradition and progressiveness. Possessing a dynamic French heritage mixed with Spanish, American, Indian and African elements, the city embodies a colorful blend of lifestyles.
The Acadians developed the area following their expulsion by the British from eastern Canada in the late 18th century. The city was founded in 1821 and renamed Lafayette in 1884 for the Marquis de Lafayette, the French military leader who aided patriots during the Revolutionary War.
While the word Acadian dates from the 1700s, the term Acadiana is a relatively new term, coined in the early 1960s by a Lafayette TV station. In 1971, then Governor Edwin Edwards signed a bill designating the 22-parish area as Acadiana. Lafayette sits right in the heart of this colorful region.
Lafayette lies 15 miles west of the Atchafalaya Basin and 35 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico. Prepare for the subtropical climate typical of South Louisiana. The city is situated in a geographical area of forests and prairies interlaced with bayous, swamps and marshes.
In 1847, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote the poem “Evangeline,” an account of doomed lovers Evangeline and Gabriel, who were separated on their wedding day during the expulsion of the Acadians from present-day Nova Scotia. According to the tale, Evangeline travels across North America to find her beloved, only to encounter a dying Gabriel at a hospital in Philadelphia.
Longfellow apparently heard the story of Evangeline and Gabriel at a dinner party with Longfellow’s friend Nathaniel Hawthorne. Until the 20th century, it was widely accepted that Evangeline and Gabriel were fictional characters. However, modern researchers have concluded that even if Evangeline did not exist, there were plenty of women who lived like she did.
This Acadian spirit lives on in the many festivals held in and around Lafayette. Lafayette can hold its own with any community for the number of festivals it holds annually. From Mardi Gras and Friday afternoon fais-do-dos (street dances) to festivals celebrating everything from Cajun and Zydeco music, crawfish and the French heritage, you’ll find something happening every week in Lafayette. Enjoy the Cajun Heartland State Fair, an 11-day celebration held on the grounds of the Cajundome and Convention Center; the Scott Boudin Festival in the spring and the Boudin Cook-off in the fall; Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, an annual collection of festivals celebrating Cajun and Creole cultures; Festival International de Louisiane, an international festival of arts and music celebrating Lafayette and the area’s French heritage; Le Festival de Mardi Gras a Lafayette, the second-largest Mardi Gras celebration in Louisiana; Downtown Alive!, a 25-year-old series of free, family-friendly outdoor concerts in the spring and fall; 2nd Saturday Artwalk, an artwalk downtown held the second Saturday each month; Bach Lunch, a spring outdoor concert series hosted by the Lafayette Science Museum and Planetarium; Gulf Brew, an annual beer-tasting festival; and the South Louisiana Blackpot Festival and Cookoff, an annual festival with great music, dancing, food and jamming.
Planning a visit? Consult the Lafayette Convention & Visitors Bureau.
