At the Louisiana Folklife Festival in Eunice November 13-15, zydeco and blues share center-stage with hand-stitched quilts, Italian stuffed artichokes and stories about Earl Long. The combination of crowd-pleasing dance music and lesser-known Louisiana traditions makes the Folklife Festival one of the richest annual events in the state.

It’s not an easy task to represent Louisiana in a festival, according to program director Pete Schwarz. “It’s hard to write a formula for what folklife is,...