ATCHAFALAYA NARRATIVE STAGE

One of the main purposes of the Rougarou Fest is to celebrate and pass on the traditions and folklore of our region as we begin to address the impacts of climate change on our bayou communities.  We view the festival as a trunk of these traditions that we are able to lift up and move to higher ground when necessary.   This enables us to protect these treasures that are interwoven into our identity and sense of place.

The Atchafalaya Narrative Stage, also known as a Talk Stage or a Storytelling Stage, is our way of sharing these traditions and folklore with the rest of our community and with visitors to the area.  The format is very similar to a guest speaker or a panel of speakers that discuss a particular topic or demonstrate a particular tradition while a moderator facilitates the conversation and allows for questions from the audience.  Topics in the past have included Hurricane Stories, Costume Making, Conversations on Louisiana French, First Nation Crafts using Native Materials, and Traditional Knowledge of Medicinal Plants.

This year’s narrative stage is supported by the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, a division of the Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism.

This Narrative Stage was first produced by the Bayou Culture Collaborative, a program of the Louisiana Division of the Arts Folklife Program and the Louisiana Folklore Society. For more information about the Bayou Culture Collaborative, please visit www.louisianafolklife.org/bayouculture.