Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival

The 41^st Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival

September 2, 2023
Yambilee Festival Grounds
1939 W Landry Street
Opelousas, LA 70570

About the Original Southwest Zydeco Festival:
The Treasures of Opelousas, a group of concerned citizens, feared that Zydeco and Creole music were dying; in response, they organized the first festival. With the guidance and sponsorship from the Southern Development Foundation, the first Zydeco Festival in 1982 was started in a bean field in Plaisance, Louisiana on the outskirts of Opelousas.

Lena Charles notes that it is important to support the festival’s mission in preserving creole culture and zydeco music in St. Landry Parish.   

For Immediate Release

Contact: Lena Charles
337- 290-6048
lenafcharles@bellsouth.net

The 41^st Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival

(Opelousas, LA) – The 41^st Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival is live! Organizers are preparing, trying to satisfy the demand for Creole Culture and Zydeco Music. Festival executive director Lena Charles says that locally and nationwide, music fans are eager to return to Southwest Louisiana to experience firsthand the original “keepers of the culture, the tellers of the stories.”  The festival takes place on September 2 at the Yambilee Festival Grounds with multiple activities leading up to that date. This year the festival pays tribute to Pioneers, the ones who help the original organization of “The Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival.”

The lineup includes hit-makers such as Grammy winner Chubby Carrier & the Bayou Swamp Band, Grammy nominees Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie and Nathan Williams & the Zydeco Cha Cha’s, Jeremy Frugé & The Zydeco Hot Boyz, Rusty Metoyer & Zydeco Krush and Special Guest, “The Legend Chris Ardoin & NuStep Zydeco.”

The Treasures of Opelousas, a group of concerned citizens, feared that Zydeco and Creole music were dying; in response, they organized the first festival in 1982. Forty-one years later, we are still celebrating and promoting the best of creole culture, traditional food and of course, The Best of Zydeco Music.

The schedule begins with a pre-party on September 1 and ends with a day jam pack-full of Zydeco celebrations on September 2, —check out the Schedule of Events for more details. www.zydeco.org

Find more information about the 41^st Annual Original Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Festival at www.zydeco.org or on Facebook at SWLA Zydeco Music Festival.

“Alon Danse’ Zariko ye pa Sale’! Se Peyi de’ Zydeco”