Annual free Acadian Culture Day Aug. 3

Every year the Bayou Vermilion District’s Vermilionville invites the community to celebrate its annual Acadian Culture Day at its historic village, and this year is no exception.

This year’s Acadian Culture Day, which is free and open to the public, is set for Sunday, August 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will focus on women in folklore.

Activities planned for the day include cooking and artisan demonstrations; canoe paddles in Le Petit Bayou; games and crafts for children including Tintamarre noise makers, rag dolls and Acadiana flag making; sharing circles on Marian Veneration and the history of the Congrès Mondial Acadian; film screenings by Conni Castille; and music in the Performance Center by Bonsoir Catin and T’Monde.

Additionally, Vermilionville will present its annual Acadian Cultural Preservation Award in recognition of outstanding lifetime contributions to the preservation of the culture and the community. This year’s recipient is Brenda Mounier. 

Mounier was born and raised in Ville Platte in a French-speaking family of seven. As a child, she was embarrassed that her parents couldn’t speak English.   According to Mounier, “A thousand times I was honte that my parents couldn’t speak English and a thousand times I thanked them after . . . I realized what a gift I had been given. 

For her poetry, Mounier was the first recipient of the French Award sponsored by CODOFIL (Council for the Development of French in Louisiana) in the Deep South Writers’ Conference in 1986, winning it again in 1987. She has served on both the Festival International Board and the CODOFIL board, and she has presented numerous workshops on Cajun culture for the Louisiana State Department of Education, as well as in Georgia and West Virginia.

Past award recipients include Richard Guidry, the Michot Family, Pat Mire, Aldus Roger, Floyd Sonnier, Camey Doucet, Warren Perrin, Eddie Richard, A.J. LeBlanc, Karl Breaux, Pete Bergeron, Elaine Clément, Dr. Carl A. Brasseaux, Dr. Ray Brassieur and Edward Cazayoux. 

For more information about Acadian Culture Day, visit http://www.vermilionville.org/events/acadian-culture-day-1 or call or call (337) 233-4077.