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| Back to Index | Published on 9/19/98 Archived on 9/19/98 | |
Dancers kick up their heels as Festivals Acadiens kicks off By ANGELA
SIMONEAUX LAFAYETTE - The theme for Festivals Acadiens 1998 is "Là, la poussière vole!" but there won’t be much dust flying this weekend. The theme, "There, the dust flies!" refers to the infamous cloud kicked up by enthusiastic dancers at the music festival, which takes over Girard Park each year.
To avoid the choking dust, dancers often wrap handkerchiefs or bandannas around their faces - looking like bandits while dancing and raccoons when they’re done. But this year, they may find a rain slicker and Delcambre Reeboks more useful than those handkerchiefs: As of Friday afternoon, there was a disorganized tropical depression stalking the Louisiana coast. Because tropical systems are so volatile, it is hard to predict what will happen this weekend, but local meteorologist Rob Perillo said festival-goers probably will not be rained out. "I think we’ll see something more along the line of nuisance showers; scattered showers that shut things down for a little bit and then move on so we can pick back up again," Perillo said. "It’s going to be warm and humid, we’re going to have a tropical atmosphere, so I don’t think the rain will do anything to cool things down." Friday afternoon, the showers held off just long enough to allow the exuberant Mouton Noir to kick off the festival in Parc de Lafayette. The band played for about two hours for nearly 50 fans who were dancing in the steamy noontime sun. Less than a half-hour after the band shut down, the dark clouds dropped a moderate rain shower on downtown Lafayette. Later on Friday evening, when the bands began to play again at 7 p.m. in Girard Park, the weather was cloudy but dry. The music starts 11 a.m. today and continues through tonight, then cranks up again Sunday at 11 a.m. Walter Mouton Jr., to whom this year’s Festivals is dedicated, will play with his Scott Playboys Sunday at 5 p.m. And no matter what the weather this weekend, those festivities will go on as scheduled. "In 24 years, there has been only one postponement, and there has never been a cancellation, so you can see what the track record is," said Gerald Breaux, executive director of the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission. Most festival-goers would not allow a little rain to slow them down, Breaux said. "Luckily, several of our activities are under cover," he added. "Much of the crafts are covered. The biggest threat is for the music festival. But the Heritage Pavilion is under cover, and there is a cover for the performers in the park. So, unless there is something really severe that would prohibit performance, chances are everything will go on as anticipated." A spokeswoman for the Native and Contemporary Crafts Festival said nothing would be canceled. If the rains become severe, artists will be moved into the Heymann Center for the Performing Arts, she said. |
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