St. Martinville – The events of Grand Réveil Acadien — the Great Acadian Awakening — will spill over into St. Martinville’s waterfront on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Acadian Memorial director Michelle Johnson told the City Council last week that the area, which includes the Evangeline Oak, African-American Museum and the Acadian Memorial, will host upwards of 200 visitors from Canada and France in a statewide celebration of the Acadian culture and French language in Louisiana.

Events are planned for New Orleans, Houma and Lake Charles before a four-day finale in the heart of Acadiana coinciding with Festivals Acadiens et Creoles in Lafayette’s Girard Park.

The French-speaking Johnson succeeded Brenda Comeaux Trahan as tourism director and curator in St. Martinville. Trahan has taken over as director of Grand Réveil Acadien.

The Grand Réveil Acadien was organized by a nonprofit group after Acadiana lost its bid to host the 2014 gathering of Acadians called the Congrés Mondial Acadien. or the Acadian World Congress, which meets every five years. Plans are to hold Grand Réveil Acadien every five years also, with the event falling in between gatherings of the Congrés.

Another strictly home-grown Acadian event, I’Ordre du Bon Temps, or the Order of

Good Times, will be held this Thursday, Oct. 13, at the Cade Community Center.

Information about the event to is available at info@acadianmemorial.org or by calling 394-2258.