The 2013 Festival theme will be Celebrating Louisiana’s Horse and Cattle Culture. There is no period of Louisiana history when cattle and horses have not played a role in the culture of the region. All of the peoples of this diverse region have been participants in cattle raising: American Indians, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Afro-Americans, Creoles, and Anglo-Americans have all taken a hand at running livestock. This is still a land of men and horses, cows and cowboys, and their influence is deeply rooted in the folkways of today’s Louisianans. Many Cajun cowboys such as those in Eunice and Mamou still run the traditional rural Courir de Mardi Gras on horseback from house to house, begging for chickens for the communal gumbo. Cowboy poetry and western ballads describe the rugged independence and frequent loneliness of the cowboy (and cowgirl!) life, as well as its closeness with the natural world. Amateur and professional rodeos, riding club trail rides, and horse racing are all popular, especially in North Louisiana. Much of Louisiana’s folk mu-sic genres are closely tied to agrarian culture, including Cajun, Zydeco, and country and western.
Musicians at the 2013 Festival will include Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie, Hadley Castille and the Sharecrop-pers Band with Sarah Jayde Williams, Kerry Grombacher, Maggie Warwick and the Louisiana Hayride Band, the Hugh Harris Band, Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue, Knight Train, the Jambalaya Cajun Band, and D.L. Menard.
The crafts associated with horse and cattle culture will also be exhibited, along with day long demonstrations by the craft persons working on site. Rounded out by the prestigious Louisiana State Fiddle Championship and the traditional foods that the Festival is renowned for, this will be a Festival to remember!
