CAJUN ('ka:-j@n), n. A person born or living along the bayous, marshes and prairies of south Louisiana; devoted to gumbo, boudin, sauce piquante, crawfish and jambalaya; dedicated to the fais-do-do, French music, hard work and letting the good times roll. (Inscription from a gift given to me by my aunt and uncle Faye and Herman Gesser of New Iberia, Louisiana)
-- from Les Blank's film "Spend It All", Flower Films
Acadiana is the home of the Cajun people, the descendents of the Acadians,
who settled along the bayous and prairies of southwest Louisiana after
their expulsion from Acadie (Nova Scotia) in 1755. It is a place of
the incredibly rich musical, cultural and culinary traditions of the Cajuns
and Creoles, and is a place like no other. Warm and wonderfully
hospitable people, many living simple but rich lives, great food,
dancehalls ringing with rollicking music and trembling with the combined
foot-stomping of hundreds of dancers, and the quiet, singular beauty of
the bayous and swamps of the Atchafalaya Basin ...
Here's where to go hear music and dance, where to eat, what to see ... laissez les bons temps rouler!
[Photograph by Greg Guirard]
Cajun Culture, Literature, Etc.
- Acadian House Publishing
- home of "Acadiana Profile" magazine
- Action Cadienne
- An organization dedicated to the promotion of the Cajun French language. Étant donné qu'il est impossible de concevoir une culture sans parler la langue. (Because it is impossible to concieve of a culture without being able to speak its language.)
Cajun Music
"Cajun music is the glue that holds the culture together."
-- Marc Savoy
- Bad Weather Productions, a zydeco label based in Kinder, Louisiana
- The Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band
- The Cajun, Creole and Zydeco Music Home Page at LSU Eunice
- The Cajun French Music Association
- A discography of Cajun and zydeco music
- Dance halls and music clubs
- Goldband Records, bringing Cajun and zydeco records to listeners for over 50 years
- KRVS, 88.7 FM, Lafayette. Radio Acadie, broadcasting Cajun French programming on the weekend.
- Eddie LeJeune, Cajun musician, 1951-2001
- The Liberty Theatre, in Eunice, La. Featuring "Rendez-Vous des Cajuns", a live all-French radio program, every Saturday night
- La Louisianne Records, in Lafayette
- Nancy Tabb Marcantel, "Chanteuse Acadienne"
- Acadiana's Musical instrument makers: Accordions, frottoirs et ti-fers
- Zachary Richard
- Savoy Music Center Eunice, LA. Home of the Acadian Accordion.
- Swallow Records, in Ville Platte, La.
- The Swamp Pop Page, by Shane Bernard
Cajun Food
-
The Creole and Cajun Recipe Page, by Chuck Taggart
- Ambassador's Restaurant Guide of Acadiana
- Neil Dronet's Cajun Brew Recipe Page
- A Cajun Family's Recipe Book, by Merlin Bodin of New Iberia, Louisiana
- Cajun Cooking: An online grocery store of products from Louisiana
- Cajun and Creole Products, Inc.: Spicy boiled peanuts, coffee, seasonings.
- The Cajun Grocer, who say they're the first, true, secure e-commerce site featuring authentic Louisiana products: food, music, cookbooks, recipes from Marcelle Bienvenu (their executive food editor), plus fresh prepared foods, such as boudin, stuffed chickens, marinated pork chops, gumbo, etc.
- Cajun World: Cajun food and fresh New Orleans seafood via mail-order
- Frugé Aquafarms: fresh crawfish and frozen crawfish tail meat via mail-order.
- Great Cajun Cooking: recipes, tips, etc.
- Louisiana French Market Online, with ready-to-serve Cajun food, mixes, seasonings, King Cakes, coffees, marinade injectors and many other Louisiana products.
- Jack Miller's Barbecue Sauce, Ville Platte, Louisiana. MAN, is it good!
- Pure Cajun Products: Louisiana foods and gifts, out of Lake Charles, Louisiana.
- Restaurants in Acadiana, recommended by myself and our readers
Shopping
- The Louisiana Catalog -- From the banks of Bayou Lafourche, the Louisiana Catalog is busy promoting Louisiana culture and heritage by offering the largest selection around of books and videos on Louisiana! They also carry musical instruments, crafts, foods and art work on Louisiana, too. The company was founded by Glen Pitre of Cut Off, Louisiana -- writer/director of the film "Belizaire the Cajun". The current owners have maintained and furthered the high standards of quality merchandise and service that's made the Louisiana Catalog one of my favorite sources of back-home culture for years.
Multimedia and Education
- Portage Technologies: CD-ROMs on Acadian and Cajun history
- PROJECT EVANGELINE: Cajun culture, history, music, language and much more in a locally-produced CD-ROM, developed with CODOFIL.
Touring Acadiana
- The City of Broussard
- The Official The City of Eunice
- Dining Acadiana: Acadiana's guide to restaurant menus
- Gueydan Centennial: The town of Gueydan celebrates its centennial in July of 1999 -- read all about it!
- Sights to see in Acadiana
- The Southdown Plantation Home and Museum in Houma, Terrebonne Parish
- Where to stay in Acadiana
Festivals
- Festivals Acadiens, every September in Lafayette, and FREE!
- Festival d'Ecrevisses du Pont Breaux -- The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival
- Festival Internationale de Louisiane
- Herb Fest of Louisiana, first Saturday in May at the Acadian Village, Lafayette
- The Zydeco Music Festival, Plaisance, Louisiana
Other Relevant WWW Sites
- The Acadian archives at the University of Maine, right up there near old Acadie!
- The Acadian-Cajun Genealogy Page
- The New Orleans and Cajun Country Newsletter
- Cajun Life: Tour information for Cajun Country
- Congrés Mondial Acadien -- Louisiane, 1999. The World Acadian Congress, to be held in Louisiana in 1999.
- The Hébert Family Web Site. There are LOTS of Héberts in Louisiana.
- The Lafayette Advertiser daily newspaper.
- Lafayette Online, a resource for business, services and entertainment listings for Lafayette
- Moss Bluff Online Louisiana Links Directory
- Net-Connect WWW Home Page: Internet Services for Acadiana
- The Opelousas Daily World newspaper
- Selected Louisiana Resources on the Internet: the biggest collection of links I've seen.
- Sportsman's Paradise, with all you need to know about fishing, hunting and other outdoor activities in the sportsman's paradise of Louisiana.
- Terrebonne Parish History and Genealogy
- The Times of Acadiana, Acadiana's weekly newspaper
- University of Southwestern Louisiana, Lafayette