We left New Orleans and instead of continuing on our eastward journey, we returned to Lafayette for the Festival International de Louisiane, a free music festival featuring musicians from french-speaking parts of the world. The three days we were there had music in the evening only, so we had time to explore more of Lafayette, which we liked even more than last time.
We returned to Acadiana Park Campground in Northern Lafayette. We’d liked it so much we requested the same campsite, by the bayou. The first day was pretty rainy.
We braved the rain to see Chubby Carrier that night — and to sample some of the amazing food at the festival.
The next day we went to the Cypress Island Preserve at Lake Martin to hike and bird watch. There were roseate spoonbills and egrets roosting in the great rookery there.
We stopped at a great place for po-boys and drove out to Avery Island to see the Tabasco plant.
Then we lost ourselves in the music (and food) at the festival. Thursday night we saw The Garifuna Collective (Belize), The Waifs (Australia), Boogat (Montreal), and CharlElie Coutoure (France).
On Friday we met up with Jen and saw Dédé Saint Prix (Martinique), Lost Bayou Ramblers and Poguetry in Motion (Cajun and Irish), and Rocky Dawuni (Ghana).
The festival was quite an experience and we’re really glad we followed the advice to avoid the overcrowded Jazz Fest in New Orleans and take in this treat instead.
