Lafayette, Louisiana, nicknamed the Hub City, is located at the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun Country. The city’s locals are known for Les Bons Temps Rouler or letting good times roll, and the Wall Street Journal’s Marketwatch.com recently named Lafayette the “Happiest City in America.”
Location
Lafayette is located along the Vermillion River in the southwestern part of Louisiana. It is the parish seat of Lafayette Parish. Lafayette is a two-hour drive west from New Orleans. The area is known for its beautiful bayous and swamps teeming with wildlife.
The People and Culture
Lafayette, LA has a population of 127,657 according to the 2015 U.S. Census estimates, and it is the fourth largest city in Louisiana.
The Cajun and Creole cultures are heavily represented in Lafayette. Lafayette’s Cajun heritage is a result of “Le Gran Derangement” in 1755 when thousands of French Canadians settled in the area after being forced from their homes after refusing to renounce their Catholic religion. A significant portion of the Lafayette population is still Catholic today. The Cajun and Creole cultures can be seen in the city’s food, music, and art.
Schools
The Lafayette Parish School System serves the Lafayette community. The school district has 40 total schools, including seven high schools. With a large Roman Catholic population, Lafayette also has many parochial schools.
Lafayette is also home to the second largest university in the state—the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Over 19,000 students are enrolled at the research university, which is among the nation’s leaders in areas like computer science, environmental biology, and nursing. Additionally, Lafayette is home to South Louisiana Community College.
Things to Do
There is much to do Lafayette whether it is eating at the many restaurants serving flavorful dishes, listening to Zydeco or Cajun music, or exploring the outdoors. You do not have to look far to find great food; Lafayette has more restaurants per capita than most cities in the United States. Be sure to try local dishes like crawfish, boudin, gumbo, and étouffée.
Dance to Zydeco and Cajun music in one of the many dancehalls around the city. Many restaurants, like Randol’s or Prejean’s, offer live music nightly along with great food and drinks.
Lafayette offers plenty of outdoor activities. Swamp tours are available to explore the outdoors and companies, such as Cajun Country Swamp Tours or McGee’s, offer airboat swamp tours, paddling excursions, sunset tours, birding and wildlife tours, and photography trips.
Festivals
Festivals are celebrated in Lafayette throughout the year. In the fall, thousands of people arrive in Lafayette for the Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, which celebrates the region’s indigenous music and culture. In the spring, Festival International de Louisiane is celebrated in downtown Lafayette with Francophone musicians and artists coming in from all over the world. In between these two huge festivals, Lafayette celebrates the Le Festival de Mardi Gras á Lafayette, the Boudin Cook-Off, the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, and the Acadiana Po-Boy Festival, among other events.
Your Lafayette Lawyer
If you or a loved one have been in a car, motorcycle, or truck accident and are looking for a local Lafayette, Louisiana attorney, call Bart Bernard Injury Lawyers at 888-GET-BART. The experienced personal injury attorneys at Bart Bernard Injury Lawyers can provide you with the help that you need.
