Bruce Daigrepont to perform at 'Avoyelles Fais Do-Do' Saturday

   This Saturday, noted Cajun singer/songwriter Bruce Daigrepont “comes home” to Avoyelles Parish as the featured performer at the Avoyelles Fais Do-Do in Bordelonville.

   The Arts Council of Avoyelles is sponsoring this first of what is hoped to become an annual event, to be held at the Bordelonville VFD Training & Community Center . Tickets for the affair are $15 each for adults and $5 for children.

   The Krewe de Canaille from Lafayette will conduct a Cajun dance workshop at 5:30 p.m. for all ticket holders.

   The fais do-do -- which is  French for “go to sleep” -- is a traditional rural French dance party.

   Daigrepont’s family left Avoyelles Parish after World War II, when many Avoyelles farming families left the farms to seek a living in and around New Orleans. His mother, JennieRita Dupuy, and his father Albert were from French-speaking Avoyelles families.

   While the family left Avoyelles before he was born,  Avoyelles never left his family, Daigrepont noted. The songs, speech and aromatic scents of Avoyelles Parish have always been a part of his life.

   His songs, “Marksville Two Step,” “Rivere Rouge” and “Nonc Willie” are part of the standard repertoire for Cajun dance bands. His “Coeur des Cajuns,” “Disco et Fais Do-Do” and “Laissez Faire” are sung by French-speaking bands throughout the world.

   Daigrepont and his Cajun band are in high demand for appearances and festivals from Canada to Europe and from coast to coast.

   Krewe de Canaille was organized in 1987 and meets monthly to share members’ enjoyment of all things Cajun. The organization’s activities intensify during the Mardi Gras season, but it is not solely a Mardi Gras krewe.

   The event in Bordelonville is a collaborative effort of the Arts Council, Avoyelles Commission of Tourism, the state Department of Culture, Recreation and Tourism, the Office of Cultural Development’s Division of the Arts, Atchafalaya National Heritage Area, Bruce Daigrepont and the Krewe de Canaille.

For more information, call the Arts Council at 264-9392 or email vanlroy@bellsouth.net .