Each week, Télé-Louisiane highlights different aspects of Louisiana culture and way of life in the only Louisiana French TV news show.
Drake LeBlanc/Télé-Louisiane
By Jonathan Olivier
The second season of La Veillée premiered on October 5 on Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB). The premiere episode focused on the opening of École Pointe-au-Chien and the school's effort to teach the region’s local French dialect.
The series airs every Thursday at 7:45 p.m. in Louisiana French with English subtitles. It’s part of LPB’s ongoing commitment to showcasing Louisiana’s unique French culture and heritage. “The great viewer response we receive to this series underscores the high interest Louisianans have to the French language, and also to our French history,” said Jason Viso, LPB Director of Programming. “But the interest in La Veillée transcends our Louisiana audience. Thanks to streaming, it has put Louisiana’s French culture in the spotlight throughout the Francophone world, especially in France and Canada.”
La Veillée’s second season will again cover unique and compelling stories across Louisiana. After covering École Pointe-au-Chien in episode 1, the second episode focused on the unique Creole language and culture of the Creoles of Pointe Coupée Parish.
Drake LeBlanc/Télé-Louisiane
Later in the season, the team explores the legacy of Sid’s One Stop Shop in North Lafayette goes back to Pointe-aux-Chênes to talk to shrimpers about the ongoing crisis in the industry, visits the Giant Omelette and French Food Festivals in Abbeville and Larose respectively, conducts an exclusive first interview with the new French Consul in Louisiana Rodolphe Sambou, and paints a portrait of the star of “Swamp People” Troy Landry.
Will McGrew, CEO and Co-Founder of Télé-Louisiane, said La Veillée is necessary as part of the broader effort to keep Louisiana French alive. “Each episode constitutes a new, engaging audiovisual resource for French speakers and learners across Louisiana,” he said. “But La Veillée is about more than just French—the show also tells the unique stories of the people of Louisiana and helps remind us to have pride in our unparalleled culture. We are so grateful to be partnering with LPB in this endeavor for a second season.”
All episodes of La Veillée are available online at Télé-Louisiane and LPB.