Thrilling Reveal for Festival Acadiens 50th Pin and Poster During ArtWalk

This year marks the 50th-anniversary festivities of Festival Acadiens et Creoles for Lafayette, and this year's artist plans to reveal the festival pin and poster at ArtWalk in Downtown Lafayette on Saturday, September 14.

The festival began in 1974 as a tribute to Cajun Music, which was held at Blackham Coliseum, and since that time the festival has grown exponentially.

Each year, the festival features a local artist creating a pin and poster that features a depiction of the theme of the festival. This year's artist, Megan Barra has been attending the festival since 1976. Her first piece of artwork for the festival was created in 1981.

She has also been a part of the designs that have been a part of the festival over the decades along with designing the official poster in 2012. Her love for the culture and the festival has prompted her decades-long involvement with the pins, posters, and promotion of the festival.

When we spoke to her she was continuing to work diligently on projects for this year's festival.

The premier event for unveiling the pin and poster will be held at 5 p.m. at the Acadiana Center for the Arts at 101 West Willow.

According to Barra, her poster this year incorporates the past, the present, and the future in a design featuring 3 accordions. She also features a nod to the new musicians who are the rising stars of Cajun and Creole music.

The poster features ties to the beginning of the festival along with the newer generation of musicians who are helping to preserve our culture and propel it into the future. The press release states the poster will show the accordions,

Underneath live oak trees, symbolic of the living process, the accordion rests on a bandana embellished with musical instruments, dance, cuisine, and craft motifs.

Barra's work can be seen across Louisiana, Quebec, and France. She was even nominated for a Grammy Award. She was nominated in the "Best Recording Package" category for her design of Sonny Landreth's CD, Levee Town.

Festival Acadiens et Creoles is free for anyone wanting to attend the three-day event at Girard Park on October 11 and 13. Sales of posters and pins help to fund the festival each year.

This festival is now the world's largest Cajun and Creole festival.

Barra says she is so honored to be able to have created the design for the 50th festival,

I am honored to design the poster to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Festivals Acadiens et Creoles. Poster design is a passion of mine, and I have been to every festival since 1976. The music, dance, cuisine, and craft have enriched our lives here in Lafayette. So, I am excited to share my joy for the festival through my design. The stylized trees and acorns are metaphors for growth and the living process. Illustrated musicians, both past and future, old and young, articulate songs and stories. A bandana design embellished with musical instruments, dance, cuisine, and craft motifs serves as a backdrop.

Check out this video from a prior Festival:

Here is another video of the Festival:

Here is more art from Megan Barra: