Bringing Amédé Home, a special event to honor Amédé Ardoin, will take place on Sunday March 11, starting at 4pm. The event will be held at 978 Kennerson Rd. in Opelousas, on Interstate 49.
The ceremonial symbolic event will feature:
- Revealing of a statue of the iconic musician
- candlelit remembrance vigil
- Bal du Dimanche après-midi , a Sunday afternoon house dance
St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission Director, Celeste Gomez says, “We’re honored to have Amédé’s likeness here at the Visitor Center where both tourists and those in our community will have the opportunity to hear his story firsthand, from our staff, and better understand his role in shaping today’s Cajun and zydeco music.”
Ardoin is thought to have passed away from a brain stem injury after being assaulted following a performance.
He is buried in an unmarked grave in Pineville. His family wishes to bring him home. Their efforts are what inspired this public memorial.
Louisiana poet laureate, Darrell Bourque added, “Ardoin is one of our great existential poets. He knew his first responsibility as artist and as human being was to be true to his voice, and because of his steadfastness to clarity, purity and integrity of voice, he became what his beloved fiddle partner Dennis McGee called him, ‘une chanson vivant’, a living song.”
For more information about Bringing Amédé Home, contact the St. Landry Parish Tourist Commission (SLPTC) at 337-948-8004.
