July 2022

With social distancing guidelines in place, it’s hard to come up with new and exciting things to do to keep your mind occupied.  A lot of people feel comfortable out and about with masks on, but for those that don’t why not take advantage of site-seeing from the comfort of your vehicle?  Driving down Rookery Road gives you amazing views of Lake Martin at a leisurely pace.  Driving through downtown Breaux Bridge, LA allows you to view the historic buildings and the carefully tended potted plants along the sidewalks.  The Bayou Teche Byway takes you from Morgan City to Cecilia, LA, with Breaux Bridge, LA being near the north end of the byway.  Scenic byways are a great way for residents to rediscover their hometowns and a great way for tourists to get to know what makes Breaux Bridge and Acadiana so unique.  There are many sites to see along the bayou, but perhaps the most valuable thing about driving along the scenic byways are the quiet moments in the car, windows down, and fresh air in abundance.

April showers bring May flowers, that has always been the phrase.  But one thing showers also bring is the resurrection ferns back to life that decorate the many live oak trees in Breaux Bridge, LA.  A resurrection fern is hardly noticeable during dry weather, but after a good soaking, the fern comes back to life on the old oaks it lives on.  When the resurrection ferns are green, combined with the long and low-sloping branches of an old live oak, the trees take on a near-mythical appearance.  The ferns are scientifically named Polypodium polypodioides and commonly grow on old live oak trees.  They do not harm the trees and are an epiphyte.  That means they are a type of plant that needs to grow on another plant to survive but are not parasitic in nature.  The roots of the resurrection fern tuck into the nooks and crannies of the tree’s bark and collect rainwater and nutrients that way.  Despite its appearance during dry weather, resurrection fern is in fact a misnomer.  The ferns do not die, but instead, the fronds curl inward to reduce moisture loss by decreasing their surface area.  The ferns are also uniquely tolerant to drought-like conditions, able to lose an astounding 97% of their moisture content without dying.  Some researchers estimate resurrection ferns could live for up to 100 years without water without dying.  In Breaux Bridge, LA the resurrection ferns never go more than a few weeks without a good soaking, however, and will respond quickly by opening up and turning green again.

For the past year and some months, things have been grey.  Lackluster.  Monotonous.  As color returns to our lives in the way of family and friends, so too does the sound of live music, and nothing plays better live than Cajun and zydeco.  Nothing gets you moving and grooving and living more than the sound of the songs generations of Cajuns have grown up listening to and loving.  Dance halls in Breaux Bridge, LA are crowded, bar patrons are spilling outside to drink and chat and listen, and restaurants known for live music have started booking entertainment again.  Cajun and zydeco music are one of the major draws to Breaux Bridge, LA for tourists.  They come to dance, eat, drink, and listen and they have been doing it for decades.  Cajun music in Breaux Bridge has a long and detailed history.  Coming first in the form of unaccompanied ballads with Acadian immigrants, they were sung traditionally at weddings and funerals, and informally for small gatherings.  Next came the addition of the fiddle, then twin fiddles, the accordion, and others until it became the recognizable sound we hear today.  As the music changed, so too did the locations where music was played and heard.  In the 1920s, dance halls opened, and Cajun music eventually moved out of people’s homes and into the larger dance hall venues.  If anything, this past year has forced many Cajuns to return to their roots of small gatherings outdoors, and small jam sessions have popped up to soothe the soul and lighten hearts.

In 1996 funds were raised to build the life-size bronze sculpture in memory of Scholastique Picou Breaux, who founded Breaux Bridge on August 5, 1829. The sculpture stands today in Veteran’s Park. Breaux Bridge is one of only two communities in the United States to be founded by a woman. Learn More about the Statue here: Scholastique P. Breaux The Civic Club de Pont Breaux, because of the interest from other women, will be raising funds to add additional bronze plaques with Women’s names. This would make a great gift idea for your grandmother, mother, daughter, granddaughter, sister, or something special for yourself.  To qualify, the recipient must (1) be from the Breaux Bridge area; or, (2) live/lived in the Breaux Bridge area; or, (3) work/worked in the Breaux Bridge area; or, (4) have an ancestor from the Breaux Bridge area.  Only the names of women will be accepted and added to the plaques.  The names of men will not be accepted.

Peak crawfish season in Breaux Bridge, LA is between the months of March and April.  However, because crawfish are so dependent on weather, rainfall, and the water levels in both commercial ponds and the wild swamps and bayous crawfish inhabit, the season varies from year to year.  In lucky years, crawfish can become available as early as November, though it can be expected for them to be more expensive than during peak season.  When it comes to peak season, festivals and crawfish boils abound and the sounds of Cajun music and cicadas fill the air.  The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival takes advantage of the perfect weather and schedules the event for the first full weekend in May every year.  While the festival has been canceled for the past 2 years, 2022 may be the year it comes back in full swing with all the joy it entails.  For those who don’t know, the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival is like a giant crawfish boil:  good food, great music, and fun activities surrounded by people you know and love (even if you come from afar).  The early winter of 2021 was exceptionally cold, so crawfish season was delayed and took an initial hit but bounced back with fervor once the waters were warm enough for the crawfish to emerge from their mud hovels.  Carefully maintained and managed commercial crawfish ponds can provide a steady stream of crawfish over the length of the full season and not just during the peak months.

The world-famous Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival will take place on May 6,7, and 8th at Parc Hardy in Breaux Bridge Louisiana. The world-famous Crawfish Festival began in 1960 as a spin-off of the Breaux Bridge Centennial Celebration. The Louisiana Legislature had just named Breaux Bridge the Crawfish Capital of the World in 1959. The festival is now known around the country and even the world. Every May, thousands of hungry people flock to Breaux Bridge to be part of the festivities.The Crawfish Festival has also become one of the largest gatherings of world-famous Cajun musicians. All weekend long you can hear the sound of authentic Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop music rising from the festival. Whether your musical taste is Cajun or Creole, you can witness over 30 bands perform over the three-day event if you think you have the stamina. It’s a perfect opportunity to see our musical tradition passed from generation to generation. Watch the Cajun dance contests, and if you’re brave, join in. There’s no better way to learn. There are even Cajun music workshops held in the heritage tent. If Cajun or Creole music excites you, there’s no better place to experience it than at the Crawfish Festival!

When you hear Zydeco music for the first time, it’s immediately apparent that this is something different. Nothing more accurately captures the sounds of the swamp or the joys of its people. It is a merging of blues music, R&B, and indigenous Creole and native music. An amplified accordion and scrub board are essential to its unique sound, with electric guitar, bass, and drums rounding out the sound. The lyrics can be sung in English, Cajun French, or a combination of both. The Cajun accordion is played by compressing or expanding the bellows while simultaneously pressing keys or buttons to allow air flow which vibrates the reeds and creates notes. They were first brought to Acadiana in the 1890s, and by the 1900s had become a staple in Cajun and Creole music. Perhaps the strangest instrument in every zydeco band’s repertoire is the scrub board. Also known as the frottoir, the instrument wraps around the musician’s shoulder and sits flush with the chest and stomach. The musician uses spoon handles or something similar to tap and scratch the metal, creating a percussion sound that is uniquely Zydeco. It is impossible to listen to Zydeco music and not dance. Many local clubs exist to celebrate the unique genre and provide hours of dancing fun for locals and tourists. Zydeco dancing is a form of folk dancing that coincides with the syncopated beat of Zydeco music. Zydeco music and dancing unite people of all ages and backgrounds with infectious sounds and fun moves.

In the summer, things tend to slow down.  The heat drives people indoors, school is out, and most families are finding ways to occupy their kids’ time so they don’t get too bored and out of control. Summer vacation usually only takes up one week, but what to do about the other 8 or 9 weeks?  There are many things in Breaux Bridge that residents and tourists can take advantage of.