The 2014 World Acadian Congress (or Congrès mondial acadien 2014) will be held 8 August through 24 August 2014. It will be the latest event in a major celebration of Acadian culture and history that has been held every five years since 1994. Its mission is to bring together the Acadian diaspora from around the globe through a series of family reunions, conferences and events that occur over a two to three-week period. The organization has already announced more than 60 family reunions to be held during the 17-day event.
Reunions are already scheduled for the following families:
Albert, Arsenault, Ayotte, Baker; Beaulieu, Belliveau, Boutot, Broussard, Caissie, Caron, Charest, Chasse, Cyr, Daigle, Deveau, Deschaines/Deschenes, Dionne, Dubois, Dugal, Dumont, Fournier, Gagnon, Gaudet, Girouard, Godbout, Guerette, Lagace/Lagasse, Landry, Levesque, Long/Lang, Madore, Maillet, Mallet/Mallais/Malley, Marquis, Martin, Mazerolle, Michaud, Morneault, Nadeau, Ouellette, Paradis, Parent, Pelletier, Picard, Poitras, Raymond, Richard, Rioux, Roy, Savoie, Sirois/Lalancette, Soucy, St. Pierre, Talbot/Gervais, Theriault, Turcotte/Turcotte, and Violette.
Applications for the next round of those interested in hosting a family reunion in Maine and portions of Quebec and New Brunswick — Acadia of the Lands and Forests — in 2014 are available online at the website for the fifth World Acadian Congress at http://cma2014.org. It is expected that some 120 reunions will be held in Maine and eastern Canada.
Each reunion will be different with its own schedule of events. However, most of them will include information about the earliest settler(s) of each family name as well as access to records of thousands of descendants. You may be able to fill out one complete branch of your family tree while attending a reunion!
The Congress will also hold many forums, conferences, roundtables, women's events, heritage activities, sporting events, and food. Yes, lots of food. Special theme days will be held, including:
- Acadia of the Lands and Forests Day
- Acadia Atlantic Day
- Louisiana and Cajuns Day
- Canadian Francophonie Day
- International Francophonie Day
- France Day
- Maine Day
- New Brunswick Day
- Québec Day
- Scouts and Girl Guide Day
- Children’s Day
The host region will be the Acadia of the Lands and Forests. It encompasses the counties of Victoria, Restigouche and Madawaska in New Brunswick, as well as Maine’s Aroostook County in the United States and the Témiscouata region of Québec.
This looks like a great event. I hope to be there. You'll find me at the Theriault reunion.
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You can learn more at http://cma2014.com/.
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