Festival International de Louisiane

Festival International de Louisiane is a free, five-day cultural celebration that takes over Downtown Lafayette each April, bringing together world-class music from across the globe alongside gourmet food, handcrafted artwork, and street performances.

The 2026 edition marks the festival’s 40th anniversary, running April 22 through 26, with Executive Director Scott Feehan calling it an unparalleled milestone: “Forty years is something to celebrate. What started as an unlikely dream has flourished into what we now know as Festival International de Louisiane.”

No ticket is required for general admission. The festival is free to attend, with revenue supported through merchandise and on-site beverage sales.

The 2026 Headliners and Global Lineup

Headliners include eight-time Grammy Award-winner Stephen Marley, son of Bob Marley, and folk icon Rhiannon Giddens, named by NPR as one of the “25 Most Influential Women Musicians of the 21st Century.”

The anniversary lineup pulls performers from Peru, South Korea, Scotland, Mali, Sudan, and beyond, alongside Louisiana culture bearers such as Zachary Richard and the Givers.

A standout discovery for adventurous families is Country Gongbang, South Korea’s only bluegrass band, known for blending contemporary bluegrass with K-pop. Other Francophone highlights include Delgres from France and Guadeloupe, Natu Camara from Guinea, Vieux Farka Touré from Mali, and Vishten from Prince Edward Island. Cimafunk brings Afro-Cuban funk from Havana, and Louisiana’s own Sonny Landreth rounds out a bill that spans practically every inhabited continent.

What Adventure Families Will Love

The festival’s layout across Downtown Lafayette means you can sample a set from West Africa, pivot to a Cuban stage two blocks away, grab a crawfish etouffée from a food stall on the corner, and still find a shaded bench before the next act starts.

Belgian stilt walkers in full costume move through the crowds while African bands play and food vendors serve everything from Asian to Cajun to Greek, creating a sensory rotation that keeps kids genuinely engaged between sets. The art installations, the Marché artisan market, and the Francophone cultural programming give the festival a depth that rewards slower exploration just as much as stage-hopping.

For families with younger children, the natural rhythm is to arrive mid-afternoon, catch two or three acts across different stages, eat well, and exit before the late-night energy takes hold. Older kids who love music will want the full evening.

The Vermilion River and Bayou Country: Water Within Reach

Downtown Lafayette sits just blocks from the Vermilion River, and the Bayou Vermilion District manages a stretch of riverfront that gives the festival a natural slow-down zone between shows.

A short drive south opens into the Atchafalaya Basin, the largest river swamp in North America, where guided pirogue tours, boardwalk trails, and cypress-shaded waterways give adventure families the outdoor counterweight that makes the city visit feel complete. Breaux Bridge, just 15 minutes east, anchors the bayou experience with crawfish culture and a waterfront community that has been feeding visitors since before the festival existed.

Where to Stay Near Festival International de Louisiane

Downtown Lafayette hotels on Jefferson Street and the surrounding Cajun corridor put you within easy walking distance of every stage. For a lakeside extension of the Acadiana trip, Lake Martin near Breaux Bridge offers one of Louisiana’s most extraordinary cypress swamp reflections and a handful of waterfront rental properties that pair still-water mornings with evenings back in Lafayette.

Browse available waterfront properties on Lake.com to find an Acadiana lake rental that grounds your 40th anniversary festival experience in the quiet, reflective beauty that makes southern Louisiana genuinely unlike anywhere else on the map.