NSU’s Jubilee Festival of Arts & Humanities

Jubilee: A Festival of the Arts and Humanities is under way at Nicholls State University with a large slate of events running through April 23.

The festival has around 80 events including art exhibitions, concerts, lectures, cooking demonstrations, poetry readings and dance performances.

This year marks the 11th straight that Nicholls is holding the festival, which was begun to celebrate the university’s 50th anniversary in 1999.

“We’ve grown in diversity and variety,” said Jubilee coordinator Angela Hammerli, an associate professor at Nicholls State. “We maybe have more international events.”

“Everyone wants to appreciate each other’s cultures,” she said. “We like the variety, so people can find things they like to attend.”

Hammerli said putting together this kind of event is a big undertaking.

“I’d wondered if I could keep it up for 10 years,” she said. “Some things change every day. It’s fun to see things working out. It’s great to bring a variety of cultures to the area.”

Among the highlights of the festival this month will be a performance by New Orleans blues and folk musician Spencer Bohren on March 15 at the Bollinger Memorial Student Union and the new Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival, held March 20 and 21 on the Nicholls campus.

Swamp Stomp grew out of the smaller Cajun and Zydeco Festival. The inaugural Swamp Stomp features Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas and the Pine Leaf Boys.

The entertainment at Swamp Stomp’s two stages will allow nonstop music. When one band ends, another begins.

The festival also includes food booths, arts and crafts vendors and T-shirts for sale.

The Nicholls biology department and the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program are hosting activities related to coastal erosion.

Admission is $10 for Bohren (free for Nicholls students, staff and faculty) and Swamp Stomp. Most events have no admission charge unless otherwise listed on the schedule. Free admissions for faculty and students will also be listed on the schedule.

Highlights of the 11th annual Fest

Musicians, artists, poets and authors – local and international – abound at the 11th annual Jubilee, a festival of the arts and humanities at NSU March 12-April 23.

Singers of United Lands (S.O.U.L.) – March 18 at various times at the Ballroom in the Bollinger Memorial Student Union.

The four singers – hailing from Chile, Kenya, Latvia and South Korea – are embarking on a six-month U.S. tour. They offer workshops, presentations and lessons featuring the languages, cultures and songs of their native countries.

Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival – March 20, beginning at noon, and March 21, from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.

Admission is $10 daily; free on Friday before 3 p.m.

The two-day celebration includes the Lost Bayou Ramblers, Renaissance Cadienne, Geno Delafose and French Rockin’ Boogie, Nathan and the Zydeco Cha-Chas, Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys, Willis Prudhomm, Bruce Daigrepont, Pine Leaf Boys, Cajun Toujours, Y’Canaille, Les Freres Michot and Treater.

Artisans will also display and sell their wares, and Cajun and Creole food and refreshments will be available.

Brazilian Composers Showcase – March 24 at 7:30 p.m. at the St. John’s Episcopal Church (718 Jackson St., Thibodaux)

This is an opportunity to hear works of composers from the University of Paraiba in Brazil.

Storyteller Arianna Ross – March 26, at 7 p.m., at Gouaux Hall

Ross’s stories weave a lively fabric, spun from the histories and present-day realities of the countries where she has lived, including Egypt and Israel. She envisions storytelling as creating a “story tapestry” from the threads of her experiences as an ethnographer, storyteller, teaching artist, dancer, musician and photographer.

French and Local Heritage Day – March 27, from noon-6 p.m., at the Le Bijou Theatre

Learning about many of the reasons why French is not a foreign language in Louisiana. Music by the Cajun rock band Mellowberry and a Cajun petting zoo are on the day’s schedule, along with presentations by experts on Louisiana culture.

International Rhythms – March 27 at 1 p.m. outside Bollinger Memorial Student Union

African drumming and dance with Bani Ningbinnin of Benin, West Africa; Schubert Dauphin, from Haiti; and their students from Thibodaux Elementary School, along with education majors from Nicholls.

John Folse Culinary Institute Culinary Day – March 27, from 9 a.m.-noon, in the Century Room at John L. Guidry Stadium

Don Kasten, instructor of culinary arts, presents the guiding principles of flambé cooking. George Kaslow, assistant professor of culinary arts, presents “Segovia, Spain: Land of Cervantes,” a demonstration of the culture of Spanish cooking. And Randy Cheramie, associate dean of the John Folse Culinary Institute, demonstrates the art of preparing a perfectly roasted chicken.

Seating is limited. Call (985) 449-7114 for reservations.

Musaica Chamber Ensemble – March 29, at 3 p.m., at St. John’s Episcopal Church (718 Jackson St., Thibodaux)

Musaica was founded in 2006 in New Orleans by a group of professional musicians, most of whom play with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra or teach at Loyola University.

Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for students.

Poetry Readings by Darrell Bourque and John Gery – April 1 at 6:30 p.m. at Ellender Memorial Library

Darrell Bourque is an endowed professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where he has directed the Freshman English Program, the Creative Writing Program and the Interdisciplinary Humanities Program. John Gery, from Lititz, Pa., is a poet and a critic of modern and contemporary poetry, as well as a collaborative translator of poetry.