Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Crosses Country Borders for Historic Partnership
Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism Announces Collaboration with Acadian Regions of Nova Scotia
Raceland, Louisiana (July 27, 2022) – The story of the Acadians and the Cajuns is one of two countries united by a common culture … one that was forcibly split apart more than 250 years ago. Today, separate but uncannily similar communities exist 2,500 miles apart from each other, the first in Nova Scotia and the other in Louisiana.
Now, tourism officials representing Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, Yarmouth & Acadian Shores in Nova Scotia, and the Congrès Mondial Acadien are working to close that great distance through a historic new partnership. Supplemented by a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that was signed on June 16 by officials from Nova Scotia and Louisiana, the partnership aims to support this agreement and reconnect the people and culture of both destinations.
On July 26, the two destinations took their first major step in achieving this goal by co-hosting a one-of-a-kind virtual media event. Sixteen top-tier travel journalists from both the United States and Canada attended the virtual event, which happened live in two places at once: Le Ptit Robichaeu restaurant in Saulnierville, Nova Scotia, and the Chef John Folse Culinary Institute in Thibodaux, Louisiana. With the help of historians, chefs and musicians from both regions and through the magic of Zoom, media guests learned of the similarities and differences between Acadians and Cajuns and how their culture not only survived, but continued to thrive in two different countries.
By co-hosting the event, the two destinations hoped to educate travel journalists in both countries about the shared culture and also generate media interest in the Congrès Mondial Acadien (CMA 2024), an international gathering of the Acadian culture that will be hosted in Southwest Nova Scotia in 2024. The virtual event was a preview of what’s to come at CMA 2024 and the two regions are already planning to collaborate on future tourism efforts.
To learn more about the Cajun culture, please visit: https://www.lacajunbayou.com/about/the-cajun-culture
To learn more about the Acadian culture, please visit: https://www.yarmouthandacadianshores.com/en/plan-your-trip/culture-heritage/
To learn more about the Congrès Mondial Acadien, please visit: https://www.cma2024.ca/en
