Acadiana's history and culture will be featured in a nationally syndicated television special commemorating the upcoming 250th anniversary of the United States.
Traveling With Denella: America 250, hosted by travel journalist Denella Richard, explores destinations connected to the nation's founding and evolution ahead of the nation's 250th anniversary celebration in 2026. The program includes a segment filmed in Lafayette that examines the region's Acadian heritage and its contributions to the broader American story.
The special highlights several historic destinations across the country, including sites associated with the American Revolution, while also focusing on communities whose histories have helped shape the nation's identity. In Acadiana, viewers are introduced to the area's cultural traditions, historic landmarks and the legacy of the Acadian people.
Local tourism and historical organizations have supported efforts to showcase Lafayette as part of the national America 250 observance. Ben Berthelot, president of Lafayette Travel, said the region's story reflects themes of resilience, migration and cultural preservation that continue to resonate today.
"When you're a smaller destination like Lafayette, you're always looking for opportunities to enhance the name and get it out there," Berthelot said. "I mean people turn their heads and say, 'Boston, Philadelphia, Lafayette?'"
The Lafayette segment features locations and stories tied to Acadiana's unique heritage, offering viewers a closer look at the people, traditions and history that distinguish South Louisiana.
KATC sat down with Richard, who said the program provides an opportunity to broaden public understanding of America's past by including perspectives and communities that are not always featured in traditional accounts of the nation's founding.
"Newly-expelled Acadians from Nova Scotia joined the Spanish to go against the British," she told KATC. "And as the story goes, through the Opelousas militia, Pensacola, Mobile, Baton Rouge, battles that were fought by a lot of our ancestors who are from here, even my seven generation great-grandfather, right, and it was because of their efforts with the Spanish that helped America gain its independence."
The special is being distributed nationally through syndicated television stations and other broadcast platforms.
You can watch Traveling With Denella: America 250 at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 13, on KATC.
