Month: August 2021

DOMINICK CROSS

LAFAYETTE – There’s bad news and good news and even better news in the world of cultural celebration festivals in South Louisiana.

Let’s lead with the bad news: As expected, the Delta variant has sent Festivals Acadiens et Creoles 2021 on over to the land of postponement.

The good news is that the festival, originally set this year for October 8-10 in Girard Park, will instead set up there March 18-20.

The better news is the festival organizers plan to also hold the event again in October.

(Editor’s note: Of course, all of this won’t mean diddly if people don’t do their part — wear a mask, get the vaccine — to put away the pandemic. Otherwise, we, yet again, may find ourselves at the mercy of a new strain of the coronavirus from the unmasked mouths of unvaxed selfish people (where applicable).)

It won’t be the first time the festival was held twice in the same year.

Barry Ancelet, board president of Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, said the festival double-dipped twice in 1980, six years after its inaugural run.

“Up until 1980, CODOFIL sponsored the festival,” said Ancelet, which, for the first two years was held in Blackham Coliseum in the spring. “In 1976, it went outside to Girard Park for the first time.”

The next year, the music festival joined forces with the Native Crafts Festival at the Lafayette History Museum and Planetarium and the Bayou Food Festival.

“In 1977, was actually the birth of what became to be called Festivals Acadiens,” Ancelet said. “It is plural because it was a coming together of previously independent festivals.”

In 1980, CODOFIL pulled out of Festivals Acadien, which was then held in September, and put on its own festival in the spring. In the meantime, the group that was involved Festivals Acadiens needed a music festival as one of its anchors.

“So they got in touch with us, those of who were producing the festival, and we agreed to put on the festival for them in that September,” said Ancelet. “At that point, CODOFIL felt like the baton had been passed and so they didn’t need to produce the festival anymore.”
So that year the festival flag flew twice.

“Of course” the virus was the deciding factor, said Ancelet, adding, “well, the virus and the projections for how long this wave is going to effect us and how virulent it is.

“We couldn’t, in good conscience, gather people for a celebration under these conditions,” he said. “What we’re hoping is, for one thing, the virus is going to start running its course on its own.

“And, also, we’re hoping people will increasingly understand that we all have to do our part to get over this and we’ll do what we all need to do.”

During a difficult year, creative expression is more important than ever.  The Festival of Words has developed an alternative, virtual fundraiser to Word Crawl. Words for You, is a project of commissioned poems, stories and songs. 
 
Festival supporters have the opportunity to request a work by a favorite author! 
 
HOW IT WORKS:
 
Approximately 45 authors are writing custom works (including Poet Laureates.)
Go to www.festivalofwords.org to begin the process
Choose an author to create an original work for you.
Make a donation online (see minimum pricing below).
Fill out a brief questionnaire about yourself to help the author get started.
The writer receives the request, and creates a new work, based on the prompts
A virtual performance of the new works takes place on September 16.
NOTE:  each author writes only one piece and is not available to be commissioned again.
 
If you prefer to donate via check, contact Martha below.
 
VOLUNTEER AUTHORS INCLUDE:
Jessica Alexander, Jack Bedell, Jolie Blanchard, Melissa Bonin, Megan Breaux, Josh Capps, Dominick Cross, Toby Daspit, Margaret Dornaus, Cornelius Eady, Marriah Ferguson, Gina Ferrera, Dennis Formento, Carolyn French, Martha Garner, Charles Claudel Garrett I, Kendra Hamilton, Ava Leavell Haymon, Clemonce Heard, Shya Hebert, Sadie J. Hoagland, Cidra Jackson, Alex PoeticSoul Johnson, Destinyzoe Jones, Jonathan Kline, Michelle Kreamer, Katheryn Krotzer Laborde, Tirashia ‘Potencii’, Christopher Manes, Bonny McDonald, James ‘JK’ McDowell, Patrice Melnick, Hailey Menard, Mc’Kaila Miller, Danielle Moroux, Phyllis Nauman, Valentine Pierce, Carol Rice, Denise Rogers, Mona Lisa Saloy, Sandra Sarr, Sue Scheifler, Tim Seibles, Margaret Simon, Heather Snow, Ken Waldman, Suzanne Wiltz
 
 
DONATIONS:
$50 (minimum) for one original work
$100 (minimum) for a poem by a current or former Poet Laureate
 
FMI:  Martha at fowmartha@gmail.com or 337-804-2482 or Patrice at festivalwords@gmail.com; 337-254-9695. 
 
Funds raised by Words for You contribute to the 14thth annual Festival of Words.  The Festival of Words brings established authors from all over the world to Acadiana to give public readings, writing workshops in community centers and public schools during the first week of November.  These funds will help to ensure the continued expansion and success of these programs.  This year’s festival will feature poet and visual artist  Malaika Favorite, musician Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and Aimee Nezhukumatahil, award winning author of “World of Wonders.”

by Dominick Cross

Imagine, if you will, a country where, after years of a smoking ban in public places and private businesses for obvious health concerns, it decided to reverse course and allow the smoking of tobacco to return in all areas of our lives, public and private.

People can now light-up in restaurants and bars, libraries, courthouses, city hall, schools, office buildings, workplaces, movie theaters, grocery stores, retail stores, shopping malls and sports arenas.

People can also light-up on airplanes and cruise ships; in auto dealerships, hospitals, medical offices, elevators, hotels, motels and taxi cabs.

No, you haven’t entered the Twilight Zone.

You’re just living in a state where Republican politicians in legislatures and governor’s mansions, as well as their Republican compadres holding seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, have gone out of their way to not advocate the wearing of a mask or getting the vaccine.

A hypothetically rescinded smoking ban and the actual stance of Republican/Trump politicians regarding masks and the vaccine are exactly the same thing: A complete disregard for the health and welfare of U.S. citizens.