Eva making her tigress cub growl after her face painting was finished.
I’m always on the lookout for bilingual events in the area for the kids, especially in French (their school language). Last year we discovered Festival International de Louisiane which is the largest Francophone music fest in the USA. It’s one of the few events you can go to in Louisiana where you’ll actually hear the French language – the acts are announced in it, many of the bands perform in it, and you can hear it being spoken around the fest by some if you’re lucky. I’ll take a guess and say this is the most French immersion opportunity you’ll get at a free event inside the USA.
The fest was started in 1987 to preserve Louisiana’s French-speaking heritage so encouraging the language is the point. With the rise of French immersion schools’ popularity in southern Louisiana post-hurricane Katrina/Rita, there are now more French-speaking youths in the state than since the Americanization of the Cajuns in the mid 20th century. It was wonderful to see schoolchildren performing songs in French in the Scène des Jeunes (Youth Stage) area of the fest, and I’m really grateful (and envious) that my kids get to grow up during this cultural renaissance in Louisiana.
I was interviewed by The Advertiser newspaper about how to prep for the festival with kids. I find it a bit confusing that the title of the article is Festival Can Be a Place For Kids since they have so many activities there designed for kids, but it also has a very global-bohemian reputation so perhaps that’s why. I mean, there was…
Face-painting…
Illicit fountain activity on city property… (Actually, I’m completely unsure if this is allowed or not since everyone brings swimwear for their kids to do it, and no one got fussed at). I love how the face paint is dripping down her face here.
En franglaijun… (Grammar nerd alert: The acute accent marks on “scene” should be grave accent marks. You can shoot me anytime.)
Of course, no words are necessary for Cajun food. Just moaning… (That’s a pistolette on the left there, by the way.)
A really talented, unusual, and very fun Quebec band called Canailles played for a sweaty crowd of post “Courir du Festival” 5k runners (Q made a personal record that morning!). The band was surprised that we were drinking after a race… and drinking in the morning. I guess I should be glad they didn’t call me out for doing both with a baby on my hip. Hey, I never confuse the sippy cups, people.
This is the only photo I have of my son because he was moving too fast to catch on camera. Now this is what a fully sated preschool kid looks like… (He fell asleep right after this and snored through a very loud and rockin’ Acadian band, but managed to clap after every song in his sleep!).
Tagged as:
festivals,
french,
french immersion
