The 34th Acadian Festival
by Luc Devost, 2011 president
Nestled in the tip of a picturesque Aroostook county,
lays the small town called Madawaska, also known as the
most northeastern town in the USA. With a population
of over 4,000, in which 83 percent speaks French at home,
Madawaska is also home to Maine’s largest cultural festival,
the “Acadian Festival.” What is an Acadian? For that answer
we need to back track over 400 years to a simpler time,
when France had the rights to explore the newly discovered
land of New France today’s Nova Scotia, Canada. At the
time it was known as Arcadia, a name given by the Italian
explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano in the 1500’s. It was
taken from the Greek, meaning Paradise. Since then the
“r” has been omitted and thus Acadia was born. The land
was home to French immigrants who have established their
families alongside the Mi’kmak Indians, whom have taught
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