If you love the unique atmosphere and friendly welcome of festivals, you will find plenty of opportunities to take part in the celebrations in and around Lafayette, Louisiana. From community craft fairs to music events, everyone can find the right entertainment this year.

Lafayette Mini Maker Faire 2018

If you love learning and making things from scratch, this festival in downtown Lafayette is a great choice. You will find family-friendly shows, demonstrations by artists, engineers, and scientists, and get a glimpse of future technologies. On March 24, between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., you can see unique experiments at the Lafayette Science Museum.

2018 Baton Rouge Blues Festival 

For Blues lovers, this festival offers great performances and a fantastic atmosphere. On April 14, the all-weekend music event in downtown Baton Rouge will provide VIP treatment for festivalgoers. You can reserve your tickets for the whole weekend at a discounted price, and take advantage of the all-inclusive packages offering gourmet food, unlimited cocktails, and priority viewing seats.

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If you want a green car with great performance and a battery that takes you farther, the 2018 Chevy Volt might be just what you are looking for. From an athletic design to intelligent driving, the Chevrolet Volt will take you farther and make you want to stay behind the wheel for longer. Find out more about the latest improvements Chevrolet made to the 2018 model.

1. Greater Range on Electric Charge

The 2018 Chevy Volt will take you as far as 53 miles on electric charge only, and up to 420 miles if you are using both electric and gas. This means that if you do a round trip of 40 miles each day, you might not need to fill up often, and you don’t have to line up at the gas station anymore. If you charge your car regularly, you are expected to drive 1,100 miles without visiting a filling station. You can charge through the 240-volt charging unit or the 120-volt portable cord.

2. Improved Safety Features

The 2018 Chevy Volt received the 2018 IIHS Top Safety Pick title when equipped with the Driver Confidence Package II. You will get lane keep assist, rear cross-traffic alert, and forward safety awareness. The 10 air bags have built-in sensors, which can contact OnStar, pinpoint your location, and get you help as soon as possible if you have an accident. You can also get the Teen Driver app connected, enabling you to monitor your teenager’s behavior behind the wheel.

3. Faster Acceleration and Two Electric Motors

Thanks to the two electric motors and the direct-injection 1.5-liter engine, your Chevy Volt will accelerate from 0 to 60 in only 8.4 seconds. The built-in gas generator automatically senses when you run low on electric power and switches to the traditional engine, so you can carry on driving. The motors use regenerative braking to recharge the batteries.

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Those who love the combination of horsepower and classic style will love the new Cadillac AST-V. A car that behaves like a sports coupe and looks like a luxury vehicle, the 2018 Cadillac Coupe has sophisticated lines, 21st century technology, and great driver convenience features to keep you safe and connected on the road. Find out more about the latest model and its unique features below.

Exceptional Power and Handling

The Cadillac AST-V goes from 0 to 60 in just 3.8 seconds, and its top track speed is 189 mph. You will get a 464-horsepower engine with 445 pound-feet of torque to keep you in sync with the road all the time. The 3.6-liter twin turbo engine will provide exceptionally fast response times, and the Brembo brakes will help you stop as soon as you need to. You can choose your transmission to suit your driving style, too; an eight-speed automatic or six-speed manual is available on all trims.

Luxurious Interior

You can stay comfortable in the 18-way bucket seats available with the 2018 Cadillac Coupe. You can even upgrade to the Recaro performance seats for even more convenience features. When you ride in your new Cadillac, you will feel like you are in the executive lounge. Wireless charging, heated leather seats, integrated armrests, and a leather wrapped steering wheel will welcome you behind the wheel.

Superior Exterior

With 18-inch front and rear premium-painted alloy wheels, the Cadillac AST-V will surely make heads turn. Additional exterior design features include performance grille, halogen headlights, heated power side mirrors, and body color handles. To further enhance the appearance of your car you might want to upgrade to the carbon fiber package, giving you an even more stylish rear spoiler.

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Winter is the best time to catch up with the latest artists’ exhibitions and get inspiration from the paintings and modern sculpture. When the nights are dark and dull outside, you can get some color back in your life by visiting one of the great galleries Lafayette, Louisiana, has to offer. Find out more about where to go and what to see this year.

Acadiana Center for the Arts

This cultural center is the perfect location for fundraisers and performances. You will find Latin music and theater shows, as well as art exhibitions. The galleries provide contemporary artists the opportunity to display their work and offer themed exhibits, such as a collection of expressionist artists, visual displays, and modern installations to get you thinking and inspire your imagination.

Hilliard University Art Museum

This modern gallery’s exhibits focus on historic events and recreate artists’ personal memories. In May, you can find the “Spotlight on Francis Pavy” exhibit, showcasing different techniques applied and experimented with by the artist. Local artists are regularly featured in the Hilliard Museum, and you can find unique collections from individual painters and sculptors. The photography collection has images from over 100 local photographers. It’s located on the campus of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Cathedral Museum and Gift Shop

This religious museum has some unique memorabilia from early bishops and clergy and showcases the life of the church centuries ago. The St. John Cathedral Parish has a history of 185 years, and you can find religious artwork exhibits or check out the regular collections. The Historical Vestment Exhibit has several photographs as well as liturgical items, and you will find a Baroque Neapolitan crèche, with 18th-century Nativity characters.

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Lafayette’s biggest party of the year, Le Festival de Mardi Gras is almost upon us! There will be a plethora of parades, live music, food, and more, but there will also be beads galore. When the beads are all thrown and taken home, don’t throw them away, donate them to Service Chevrolet Cadillac!

Service Chevrolet Cadillac is collecting all kinds of extra and excess Mardi Gras beads to support one of Lafayette’s wonderful local organizations, LARC. LARC is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping those with developmental disabilities and their families. For over 60 years, their mission has been to support individuals with intellectual or developmental disabilities to help reach their goals of self-worth and self-sufficiency.

We are proud to support LARC and their mission year after year, and aim to give back to our community more than ever in 2018. Help us make a big positive impact in our community by donating your extra Mardi Gras beads! Bead donations will be collected in the bed of our Parade-leading Chevy Silverado trucks located near the stage of Le Festival de Mardi Gras a ’Lafayette throughout the festivities.

Our support for LARC continues long after Mardi Gras ends, too. We will continue taking bead donations for LARC weeks after the celebrations has passed at our dealership at 1212 Ambassador Caffery Parkway in Lafayette. Let’s show everyone how Mardi Gras is done in Lafayette, plan to donate your beads today! We wish every one of you a fantastic and safe Mardi Gras and hope to see you at the parades!

For more information about LARC, please visit: http://www.lafayettelarc.org/

For more information on Mardi Gras, please visit: http://www.gomardigras.com/

Image “Mardi Gras Beads” via Flickr by Mark Gstohl used under CC BY 2.0 

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Lafayette’s biggest celebration is just around the corner, and we couldn’t be more pumped for all the upcoming events! This year Le Festival de Mardi Gras comes a little earlier, but we’re more than ready for it. Together with the Greater Southwest Louisiana Mardi Gras Association, we drive Mardi Gras!

There’s no truck that’s more dependable than a Chevy, which is why our trucks have had the honor of pulling every single parade float for the GSWLMGA parades year after year. As a presenting sponsor for over 20 years, we are so proud to continue our tradition of participating in the annual Mardi Gras events!

We also use the opportunity of Mardi Gras festivities to give back to the community. Service Chevrolet Cadillac will collect Mardi Gras beads during each parade to support LARC, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to those with developmental disabilities and their families. We continue to collect these beads for weeks after the party ends, so we can give as much support as possible for LARC!

Le Festival de Mardi Gras a ’Lafayette is mixing things up this year, starting the main festivities on February 9^th at Cajun Field and runs through February 13^th, offering 5 full days of delicious food, incredible live music, fantastic parades and more! The parades for Mardi Gras start on February 3^rd, check out the parades we’ll be leading below.

February 3^rd

• Krewe of Carnival in Rio Parade, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

February 10^th

• Children’s Parade, Lafayette, 12:30 p.m.
• Krewe of Bonaparte Parade, Lafayette, 6:30 p.m.

February 12^th

• Queen Evangaline’s Parade, Lafayette, 6 p.m.

February 13^th

• King Gabriel’s Parade, Lafayette, 6 p.m.
• Lafayette Mardi Gras Festival Parade, Lafayette, 1 p.m.
• Independent Parade, Lafayette, 2 p.m.

*For a full list of parades, click here.

So grab your friends your family, head out to Cajun Field and join us for an unforgettable experience at Mardi Gras 2018! We hope to see you all out there!

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The 2018 Chevrolet Traverse has arrived, and it’s full of incredible new features. From a fresh new exterior design to upgraded interior features, the Traverse is designed to accommodate life’s challenges on the road. Here are four features that make every drive an easy one.

Hands-Free Liftgate

Having a full load in your hands and trying to dig out your keys at the same time can be hard. The 2018 Traverse gets rid of that problem. An available hands-free gesture liftgate opens with a simple kicking motion on your foot. So can worry less about dropping what’s in your arms, or your keys, or both.

Smart Slide® Seating

The 2018 Traverse is an ideal vehicle for those who need lots of cargo space or ample room for their family. Getting your passengers in the car is more convenient and faster than ever. The Smart Slide® second-row seat can be moved and angled forward, allowing easy access to the third row. The Smart Slide® seat can also move with an empty car seat in place!

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For years, Cadillac has been known for their quality and innovation in the automobile industry. Even today, they continue to push the limits of what’s possible by coming out with new and valuable features in each of their vehicles. Here are just a few ways the World of Cadillac continues to improve the automobile landscape.

Safety

One of Cadillac’s primary goals with safety is to combine technology with human sensibility to create a vehicle that will protect you regardless of the situation. One of the features it has brought to the industry is Front Pedestrian Braking, which uses a camera to scan the road ahead for people and brakes if it detects any in your path.

Automatic Park Assist is another important tool that parks your car for you by using cameras and sensors. If you’re driving at night, you’ll love the Enhanced Night Vision feature, which uses thermal imaging to provide you with a view of any obstacles in your path on the road ahead. Finally, Lane Keep Assist uses cameras to identify the lane you’re in and notifies you if you begin to stray out of it.

Performance

For those in the know, Cadillac is synonymous with high-quality performance. Currently, the brand manufactures several cars that have enough power to outshine nearly every other car on the road. In particular, the ATS-V has supreme speed, flying from 0 to 60 mph in a mere 3.8 seconds. This is faster than its competitors, the BMW M4 and Audi S5.

Another car that showcases Cadillac’s supreme manufacturing is the 2018 CTS-V. It uses six-piston front, four-piston rear Brembo brakes with fixed calipers. These offer a solid pedal feel, superior heat resistance, and longer rotor life to keep you on the road for longer.

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Lafayette is a great town, but sometimes you just need to get away for a day or two. Luckily, there are plenty of great attractions within driving distance that will make for a fun road trip with your family. Next time you’re feeling the call of the road, consider the following stops for either a day or weekend trip.

Downtown Opelousas

Just under a half hour away from Lafayette is the quaint town of Opelousas. To get there, just take I-49 N to LA-182 N. Opelousas is best known for being the birthplace of the king of zydeco, Clifton Chenier. Not sure what zydeco is? Don’t worry; Opelousas has plenty of opportunities to teach you about it. Stop by the Le Vieux Village heritage museum to learn more about this town’s history and the birth of this interesting genre of music.

When you’re finished there, take a stroll over to the Louisiana Orphan Train Museum to see architecture from the 18th and 19th century or gaze at the imposing Delta Grand Theatre on the main street. You’ll need to eat while in town, so be sure to stop at either Mama’s Fried Chicken for a delicious home-cooked lunch.

St. Bernard State Park

If the great outdoors are more your style, then St. Bernard State Park is worth the three-hour drive. Located just outside of New Orleans, this 358-acre park was founded in 1971 after a gracious donation of land. Unfortunately, the area was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina, but has since bounced back.

Today, you can peruse the man-made lagoons and take a journey through various wetlands and woodlands on several different hiking trails. If you’re looking to stay the night, there are 51 different campsites, as well as a pavilion you can rent for a group gathering during the day.

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Cadillac’s CT6 sedan is a remarkable car on its own, but what if you could replace the gas engine with an electrical hybrid? Cadillac heard your cries, and as a result, created the 2018 CT6 plug-in hybrid. This luxurious car helps you do your part to save the environment while also getting where you need to go in style.

Impressive Mileage

One of the biggest benefits of choosing any hybrid is the lower costs at the pump thanks to improve mileage. Naturally, the CT6 hybrid doesn’t disappoint. You can get up to 31 miles of all-electric driving with a fully charged high-voltage battery, which is plenty to run to the store or get to work. That equates to a combined highway/city rating of 62 MPGe.

Overall, you’ll get approximately 430 miles before both your tank and your battery run dry. When using just gas to get around, you can expect about 25 mpg combined according to EPA estimates.

Peak Performance

Just because the Cadillac CT6 is an eco-minded car, that doesn’t mean it still can’t shine on the highway. The gas engine is a 2.0-liter turbo 4-cylinder, which the electric engine is a two-motor electric variable transmission system paired with a lithium-ion battery. These two systems work together and automatically switch between each other depending on your driving style.

Expect to get up to 335 horsepower and 432 lb-ft of torque on the road, ratings that are more commonly seen on pickup trucks and racecars rather than luxury sedans. This much power means you can zoom from 0 to 60 mph in just 5.2 seconds.

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