Culture.
Tradition.
"This is my third festival hat because we've been coming to festival since our kids were smaller."
And good eats.
"It's awesome for us to come down here and sell our food and see that they like it."
All wrapped into one this weekend for Lafayette's most anticipated festival.
"Very excited! I feel very strong that it's going to be nice", says festival goer, Donnie Kelly.
Celebrating 37 years of Festival International de Louisiane, and the fun is just getting started.
"It's awesome because you bring in tourists from everywhere from all over the world to come here and they get to see Acadiana and all of our culture", says Charles "Rap" Faulk. We're sitting here enjoying the culture and yet we're getting culture from everywhere else so it doesn't get any better."
For long-time vendor, Umami Bites, they've traveled from Wooster, Ohio for 8 years to serve their Asian street-food cuisine. Owner Adam Schweiterman says it's always worth the trip.
"Coming to festival is one of my favorite things to do. We love Lafayette and love serving the community here and it's grown from just a dream to something that we can survive on, so it means a lot when the community comes to support us."
Many Acadiana residents, have this week highlighted on their calendar every year, like the Faulks, who've picked up their own tradition of collecting the festival pins.
"There was a guy that used to come here and we'd see him every year and he started with a ring around the collar type of thing and I said baby, I want a festival hat, so we just started collecting."
------------------------------------------------------------
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere.
To reach the newsroom or report a typo/correction, click HERE.
Sign up for newsletters emailed to your inbox. Select from these options: Breaking News, Evening News Headlines, Latest COVID-19 Headlines, Morning News Headlines, Special Offers
