The Zydeco Festival is finally back after 2-year hiatus
The Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival has experienced its share of iconic moments during its four decades of existence, but there might be no larger celebration than the event scheduled Saturday in Opelousas, according to event organizers.
“This (festival) is really huge. Not only are we going to experience our 40th year, but once again we are going live after two years of holding the event virtual because of COVID,” festival executive director Lena Charles said on Thursday. "Not to be forgotten is that we are the original Zydeco musical event that has continued while others that came later are no longer around."
Charles spoke during a telephone interview as she continued with the final stages of event preparation connected with staging a one-day musical event that features a large crowd expected to dance from music provided by six legendary Zydeco bands that will play from noon to midnight at the Yambilee Festival Building on Louisiana Highway. 190, a far cry from where the festival began in a soybean field off La. 167 in 1982.
A historical element will be included on Saturday as there will be dedication ceremonies for Clifton Chenier, a Zydeco music legend who was born near Opelousas and Wilbert Levier, one of the original organizers of the non-profit festival.
Zydeco Festival season began officially in August when Charles hosted a kickoff event at the Opelousas Museum and Interpretative Center. Veteran Zydeco musician Geno Delafosse performed an accordion solo at the event.
On Thursday Charles’ mood was vibrant as she discussed between sips of morning coffee, the significance of the festival whose origins acknowledged the familiar Zydeco and Creole dance music that had once been performed locally at small parties and that was now being introduced to a larger stage.
“This festival is truly a celebration of great importance since it shows that the festival has been able to continue evoking the Creole culture, music and stories that are so important to this area. We have a lot of people that have moved away, but they continue to come back and visit (St. Landry Parish) and the festival is the event that draws them here,” said Charles.
According to the zydeco.org, the festival website, the annual Labor Day event was started by a group who called themselves The Treasures of Opelousas, who at the time were fearful that Creole music was dying. The event, the website said, was created as a response to help keep the parish Creole culture alive as well as celebrate the people whose stories were important to Creole preservation.
The objective of the non-profit event is to continue the promotion of the Creole culture, food and music.
Charles said the event was moved from the original Plaisance-area location to Opelousas five years ago.
During the time when event crowds danced in the open fields for several days to music from Zydeco bands, there was often inclement weather and even a few hurricanes that often turned the bean fields into quagmires.
“There was also a problem with the upkeep of the land in order to have a festival every year. There were 15 acres of grass that had to be cut in order to contain the large crowds we were having,” Charles added.
Although she is unsure why Labor Day was chosen for the festival, Charles said, it was to celebrate the end of the traditional harvest season.
“You know, Zydeco has often been referred to as snap bean music and we were holding the event in a bean field. You couldn’t have a festival if the beans were still in the ground,” Charles noted.
The land for the first festival was used by sharecroppers and farmers as part of an agricultural cooperative operation organized by Father Albert McKnight, the pastor of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Opelousas.
At the kick-off event, Charles declared the first site of the Zydeco Festival as sacred ground. Charles said Thursday that it made sense to move the event five years ago to a venue where there was a covered area for dancing.
“You also have Opelousas as the world’s Zydeco Capital. Having the event at the Yambilee Building gives people a chance to come and dance and listen to all of these bands, without fear of getting wet and staying dry,” adds Charles.
Charles said the Saturday event will also attempt to connect several decades to the current elevation of Zydeco music to a worldwide phenomenon.
“Just this month we have musicians that began their careers here locally playing to crowds all over the United States as well as in other countries. I think that has been one thing the festival has done, which was to preserve the music and now that effort has helped create more Zydeco artists who are letting the world know about our culture,” Charles said at the kickoff event.
Want To Go?
What: 40th Annual Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival
Where: Yambilee Building Opelousas
When: Saturday beginning at noon and ending at midnight
What: Six Zydeco Bands will perform live on stage
Auxiliary Events: Kickoff Dance at Evangeline Downs in Opelousas Friday beginning at 7 p.m. On Saturday a Zydeco breakfast with music will be held at the St. Landry Parish Courthouse Square from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m.
Admission: Pre-sold tickets for adults $20. Tickets sold at the event are $25. Admission for children is $5.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: The Zydeco Festival is finally back after 2-year hiatus in Opelousas
