Update: Due to possible complications from Hurricane Delta, the festival has been postponed until October 16-18. OffBeat will publish more information as it becomes available. 

Like seemingly every post-Mardi Gras music festival in Louisiana, the annual Festivals Acadiens et Créoles will go virtual for 2020. Organizers in early September announced that the world’s largest Cajun and Creole festival will take place online for the first time in its 40-year history.

Kicking off Friday, October 9, performances will take place at the Acadiana Center for the Arts, Rock‘n’Bowl de Lafayette and Blue Moon Saloon. In addition to music, the three-day event will include food at participating restaurants around Acadiana, cooking demonstrations, workshops and a virtual race. The festival’s theme for 2020 is “Bonne Fête Tout le Monde.”

“While we are concerned about the ongoing pandemic, we are also committed to balancing these considerations with our cultural and social responsibilities,” says Festivals Acadiens et Créoles Founder and Board President Barry Ancelet. “We recognize that musicians, restaurant owners and staffers, as well as artisans, have been among the hardest hit economically by the current pandemic, and we are committed to doing whatever we can to help these members of our community. In addition, our fans have also weathered these difficult times and deserve an occasion to celebrate. So, rather than pulling the plug and just waiting until next year, we have put together a plan to make the festival experience available virtually, so that we can all party safely this year.” 

Twenty-one bands will perform as part of this year’s digital Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, including Pineleaf Boys, Bonsoir Catin, Nathan Williams & the Zydeco Cha Chas, Wayne Toups & ZydeCajun and many more. Click here for the full lineup.

Goldman Thibodeaux will be presented with the Louisiana Tradition Bearer Award.

Fans can tune in to the festivities via FESTV through the event’s official website or its Facebook Live.