LAFAYETTE, La. — Lafayette Parish is home to two of this year's Atchafalaya National Heritage Area Legacy Grant recipients.
Between the two recipients, the grant will fund a total of three cultural projects. One of those will include a live broadcast of the 50th annual Festivals Acadiens et Créoles.
"It's important for us to archive these moments and events for future generations. The theme this year for festival is '50 Years and Tomorrow.' By archiving this music, it allows researchers, it allows musicians, it allows the public to go in and listen to those recordings," said Patrick Mould, vice president of programming and development for Festivals.
Mould said the music at Festivals Acadiens et Créoles is archived at the Center for Louisiana Studies each year. But this year, there's an opportunity to go a step farther.
"It's also going to allow us to bring a couple of videographers and some photographers on the grounds, too, to document the festival, as well, and it's going to allow us, also, to bring in a social media team that is going to be doing social media posts in real time during the festivals," Mould said.
Also during the festivals, KRVS Radio Acadie will be broadcasting and streaming live from the grounds.
"We carry entire sets. We carry interviews with artists. It's a really great way to connect people with the festival," said Cheryl Devall, general manager at KRVS Radio Acadie.
KRVS will be bringing the sounds of Festivals Acadiens et Créoles to anyone wanting to hear.
"I'm really tickled to be able to let as many people as possible know about this and through the medium of sound. We can tell the whole world that this is a happening place," Devall said.
The second Lafayette recipient of the ANHA Legacy Grant was the Acadiana Center for the Arts in their project to continue support for Atchafalaya creatives.
The grant will be funding $10,000 to the AcA to partner with Louisiana Economic Development and the ANHA to create workshops to build both business and creative skills for artists and artisans around the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area.
