39th Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival Goes Virtual

August 31, 2021

For Immediate Release

August 31, 2021

39th Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival Goes Virtual

(Opelousas, LA) – The 39th Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival is going virtual for the 2nd year due to the pandemic.  The organizers are preparing the festival, trying to satisfy the demand for Creole Culture and Zydeco Music!  Festival executive director Lena Charles says that all over the country music fans long to come to Southwest Louisiana to experience firsthand the “keepers of the culture, the tellers of the stories.”  This year they can experience it virtually as the Festival lets loose in homes from New York to California to Florida—and of course Louisiana!

Usually held the Saturday before Labor Day in Opelousas, the virtual event will be broadcast on the website and on multiple TV stations.  This year’s celebration features recorded performances by zydeco hit makers such as GRAMMY nominee Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie and GRAMMY winner Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band.  The event will include interviews with zydeco all-stars and legends which were conducted by St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission Executive Director and host of Zydeco Stomp on KRVS, Herman Fuselier, as wells as Lena Charles, Festival Organizer and Director.  Enjoy music and conversations with Anthony Dopsie, Geno Delafose, Chubby Carrier, Jeffery Broussard and more.

Can catch the festival on September 4th at 11 a.m. from the website (www.zydeco.org), on KLFY Channel 10 and AOC Acadiana Open Channel. It’s available at noon on MyNetwork Channel 5 Charter. Lena Charles notes that it is important to support the festival’s mission in preserving creole culture and zydeco music in St. Landry Parish.

Meanwhile, Zydeco music lovers can experience live music as the City of Opelousas presents the Annual Downtown Zydeco Breakfast on Saturday, September 4, 2021 from 9 to 11 a.m. under the beautiful oak trees surrounding the historic St. Landry Parish Courthouse Square. This year, the featured band will be of Lil Pookie and the Zydeco Sensations.

Local downtown businesses will feature a unique assortment of breakfast menu items for sale, from coffee and pastries to breakfast casseroles and praline chicken bites. Local downtown spots include Java Square, The Brass Rail, Chicory’s at the Palace, Back in Time and more.

Jimmy ‘Lil Pookie’ Seraile was born in the small community of Frilot Cove in St. Landry Parish. Pookie spent much of his childhood growing up around music and soon learned to play instruments himself.  He watched other musicians and sneaked into local dance clubs to gain knowledge of what was already instilled in him by his grandfather, the late Delton Broussard. Broussard, an esteemed accordionist with his legendary band, Delton Broussard & the Lawtell Playboys, had a significant influence on Pookie’s decision to play music and his interest in the accordion.

People attending the free Zydeco Breakfast are encouraged to bring their lawn chairs and enjoy the entertainment in a relaxed and charming setting in the heart of downtown Opelousas. For more information about the City of Opelousas Zydeco Breakfast, call 800-524-5442, visit www.cityofopelousas.com.

More information about the 39th Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival, French La La to Zydeco Music, Signup for Watch Parties and Opportunities to Support the Festival; all will be published online at www.zydeco.org or Facebook at SWLA Zydeco Music Festival.

About the Original Southwest Zydeco Festival:
The Treasures of Opelousas, a group of concerned citizens, feared that Zydeco and Creole music were dying; in response, they organized the first festival. With the guidance and sponsorship from the Southern Development Foundation, the first Zydeco Festival in 1982 was started in a bean field in Plaisance, Louisiana on the outskirts of Opelousas.

photo: dancing at Zydeco Breakfast

Last modified: August 31, 2021

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