Every year, on the first Sunday of October, the West Baton Rouge Museum holds SugarFest: a 28-year-old celebration of the sugarcane harvest that attracts people from all over to come together and enjoy part of what makes Louisiana a cultural marvel.
At SugarFest, everything is free, which is a part of the appeal and what encourages first-time attendees to try two of the most important things they can experience at the festival: chewing sugarcane and drinking sugarcane juice.
Alma Plantation brings over sugarcane and cuts it up. Like many Louisianians of the past, people chew on the cane to get all the sweetness out. Then, they can pick up a green cup of juice filled with the sweet taste of the fields that surround the museum.
The main museum was open to the public for the duration of the festival and is currently home to a variety of works, including a plethora of George Rodrigue paintings featuring his famous Blue Dog alongside his Cajun paintings. Another collection named “Rooting Metal, the Trahan Gallery” featured musicians playing inside the Museum.
All day, visitors walked through the museum’s historic buildings, including the Arbroth Plantation Store. The old-timey store had an abundance of historical artifacts and historically-accurate props. A blacksmith, woodworker and other tradesmen contributed to the atmosphere while showing visitors a bit of the past.
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Outside, the museum grounds were covered with tables with anything accessible to the imagination. Genealogy, archeology and countless artists sold their work. One of the most well-loved areas of SugarFest is the French Area, packed with people of all proficiency levels gathering to celebrate and practice the language.
Elizaveta Barrett, a Louisiana native and a French speaker, spent her day enjoying what the festival had to offer. Sitting at the “On Parle Français” section with her husband, who is in charge of education at the West Baton Rouge Museum, Barrett conversed with the other French speakers.
When asked about the growth in people speaking French in Louisiana, Barrett said in French, “Me, I think that everyone is looking for an identity, and it is hard to do that in the United States because of the period of assimilation, because everyone lost their culture.”
She added, “It is not just a language, it is a culture, it is an identity.”
Like many Louisiana French speakers, Barrett’s family lived in Louisiana when speaking French was “interdit:” French for “forbidden.”
In 1921, Louisiana’s constitution was amended to allow only English-speaking schools, essentially banning all French-speaking schools in the state and adding to the discrimination French speakers were already experiencing. The past demonization of French is a scar many Louisiana residents and their families carry to this day. Recently, however, resources like Council for the Development of French in Louisiana and Nous French are seeing a comeback in Louisiana as more families seek to reconnect with their French-speaking heritage.
Barrett also spoke of one of her favorite parts of SugarFest: “The music is so good here, and it’s free.”
Folk, country, Cajun, and jazz were just a few of the genres that played throughout the day, but no matter who was playing or what genre it was, visitors were entranced by the music. The Storyville Stompers performed the song “St. James Infirmary” to roaring applause.
The West Baton Rouge Museum continues in its mission of being an educational resource for the history and culture of the parish and Louisiana through SugarFest, which has become a tradition for many residents.
“The time [of year] is beautiful,” Barret said. “There are many reasons to come here.”
A live band plays music for guests at Sugar Fest on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2023, at the West Baton Rouge Museum in Port Allen, La.
