Fête de la Nature is a celebration of Acadiana’s natural surroundings through art, music, food, and science. This event takes place at Atelier de la Nature in Arnaudville, Louisiana. Throughout the day, scientists will lead an open-to-the-public BioBlitz. At the BioBlitz, participants search for every species of bird, reptile, insect, plant and fungus living at the reserve.

A benefit lunch will be run by Chef Colt Patin of the Culinary Institute of Baton Rouge, his students, and Scouts Troop 174. Food will be sold at the event with proceeds will help fund Atelier de la Nature’s youth education programs. Crawfish will be $20 for 3lbs.

Register for this event for free here.

This event is made possible in partnership with Cycle Zydeco.

Multilingual accessibility (French/Spanish/English). Please contact Atelier de la Nature for other accessibility requests.

In the evening, we will screen the film “My Louisiana Love” with opening remarks and Q&A with co-producer and co-writer Monique Verdin. This screening is in commemoration of the 15 years since the Deepwater Horizon accident and the 20 years since Hurricane Katrina.

FREE registration is REQUIRED for all attendees. If you’d like to support Atelier de la Nature, a donation would be greaty appreciated. Suggested donation is $10.

Tickets available for:
– General Admission: FREE – Please register to attend
– Crawfish (3lbs crawfish + 2 potatoes) presale: $20
– Camping (per tent): $10
– Crawfish will also be sold at the event, as well as other concessions (card and cash accepted).

Event schedule:
6:30-8 AM Birds
8-10 AM Arthropods
10-12 Amphibians, Reptiles & Fishes
12-2 Music and lunch
2-4 Plants and Fungus
4-5 Mammals
6-8 Film screening
5-8 set up tents and dinner break (bring your own)
8-onwards: Nocturnal insects, bats, bonfire and camping

There are six musicians in the raucous pop ensemble Sweet Crude, but their ultimate goal is duality. The lyrics are bilingual, with French and English lyrics sometimes sharing space in one song. As a gang of bodies in motion onstage, their clamor of percussion and shouts whips up the dance floor in contagious physical joy – but the tunes lend themselves as well to deep listening, revealing complex layers of both craft and content. Of course, there’s the band name itself: a reference to the petroleum export of Sweet Crude’s home state of Louisiana, an unintentionally poetic linking of two concepts operating in seeming opposition. And like the title of Sweet Crude’s latest album – Officiel//Artificiel – when everything comes together, the product is more than the sum of the parts.

Special thanks to our major sponsors:
– Al Berard Memorial Music Fund at Community Foundation of Acadiana
– St. Martin Parish Tourism Commission
– Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities