3 Exciting Fall Events to Experience in Lafayette, LA

One of the best things about living in a warm climate is that you can have outdoor activities all year round. While others brace themselves for extreme cold weather and precipitations, living down South means summer doesn’t necessarily have to end so soon.

This certainly applies to people living in and around Lafayette, Louisiana. In the months of October and November, when people from other parts of the country are resigned to the fact that summer is over and already look forward to the Holiday Season, Lafayette is still partying. Here are the coolest things to do in the Lafayette area this fall.

1. Festivals Acadiens et Créoles

This mid-October three day festival is more like three festivals all rolled into one, each celebrating a different part of Cajun and Creole culture. It started back in 1972 as Louisiana Native Crafts festival, and two years later it merged with a newly-started Cajun music festival. The final piece of the puzzle was added in 1977 with the Bayou Food Festival.

The result is a wonderful craft, music, and food festival that celebrates the old traditions of south Louisiana natives. It’s been named this way since 2008, and thanks to the amazing people putting it together, it grows in popularity with each passing year.

2. Crescent City Blues and BBQ Festival

Louisiana has many different peoples and traditions, but if you have a passion for the blues, this is the festival for you. This award-winning festival, presented by The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation, hosts its 13th edition this year, and they anticipate it will be their biggest one yet. So, get ready to listen to some soul-soothing blues, while tasting some of the best barbecue in the state.

The admission is free, and you’ll be treated to a wonderful variety of blues artists playing on one of the festival’s two stages. This year’s top-billed performer is guitar legend Jimmie Vaughan, brother of the late great Stevie Ray Vaughan. Festival-goers will also get to choose between 12 of the best barbecue vendors in the area, plus a large and well-stocked arts market.

3. Festival of Lights

Rounding up the fall season, late November brings the 25th edition of the annual Festival of Lights, happening in Lafayette’s famous Oil Center. Admission is free, and visitors will be treated to all sorts of fun activities. True to the festival’s name, the main attractions will be the different displays of light and animation throughout the entire evening.

Given that the Holidays will be just weeks away, there will be plenty of opportunities for holiday shopping, and the kids will have the chance to take an early photo with Santa. Various activities, such as face painting, live ice sculpting, live acts, a horse-drawn carriage ride, and carnival games, all contribute to an absolutely magical time for children and adults alike.

Autumns in Louisiana are gorgeous. The special time between the heat of summer and the hectic end of the year is perfect for outdoor events and activities, and the people in and around Lafayette take advantage of that every year.

Image via Flickr by cajunzydecophotos used under CC BY-SA 2.0 

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