When artist Megan Barra first started attending what is now Acadiana's largest Cajun and Creole music festival, she was just a kid from Lafayette who was a fan of Cajun music.
In 1976, Barra's first year at the festival, what is now known as Festivals Acadiens et Créoles was only 3 years old. The fledging annual concert, then called "Hommage a la Musique Acadienne," had been started in 1974 by a young Barry Ancelet and his colleagues at the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana. They wanted to share the region's unique sound and vibrant performers — and unexpectedly ended up starting a movement that caught fire with local youth.
"It was supposed to be a one off," said Ancelet, now Professor Emeritus of Francophone Studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. "What was surprising was that they gave the reins to a 22 year old, and it went so well, we did it again the next year."
That first concert, held at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette, drew thousands of people to hear the likes of Marc Savoy, Clifton Chenier and the Balfa Brothers. Ancelet says that at the time, it was thought that Cajun music was mainly popular with the older generations — but the crowd at the first tribute show changed that perception.
"Young people were interested in and wanted to learn about what was theirs," according to Ancelet. "In order to do that they had to go through a discovery process. What is ours? Who are we? It was a question of identity."
In 1976, Barra numbered among those youth exploring their culture's musical roots. Today, her body of work — including album and book designs, logos and silk mosaic compositions — celebrates South Louisiana's culture, with a strong emphasis on the area's folk roots.
Barra's art has long been associated with Festivals Acadiens et Créoles, with her stamp on the festival's stage art and other graphic elements. She designed the official poster in 2012, and has now designed the commemorative poster and pin for the festival's 50th anniversary year.
This year's poster depicts a triple-row accordion adorned with images of the Cajun and Creole musicians who performed at the first event in 1974, juxtaposed with younger musicians who represent the future of the region's sound. Part of the younger musicians she chose to depict on the poster is the band Amis du Teche, which played at Saturday's poster unveiling held at the Acadiana Center for the Arts.
"I depicted the 1974 performers on the left side of the accordion, and young musicians who are currently playing today, or might be tomorrow, on the other side," she says. "I took inspiration from the Balfa kids' music camp to make the sketches. Barry Ancelet's grandson is on there, who went to the camp. He's very young."
Louisiana Folk Roots hosts Lafayette's annual Blackpot Festival, Balfa Music Camp and Kids Camp, which is designed for youth who want to learn how to play traditional instruments.
Barra designed this year's poster and pin in an Art Nouveau style, as a nod to popular concert poster design from the 1970s.
She says, "the first festival happened in the '70s, and I was inspired by all these really great posters that looked back to turn of the century Art Nouveau design."
In another nod to the festival's history, this year the Festivals Acadiens et Créoles lineup will honor the first 1974 concert with a Friday night tribute celebrating the original performers; played by contemporary musicians and in some cases, family members of the original lineup.
Fifty years since that first sold-out concert at Blackham Coliseum, this three-day festival has grown to be the world’s largest Cajun and Zydeco music event, attracting visitors from across the globe. Festivals Acadiens et Créoles will take place this year from Oct. 11-13, at Girard Park in Lafayette, Louisiana.