Festival International began with a depressed economy due to sinking oil prices of the  1980s and one man's exposure to a new culture.

 Herman Mhire, then director of the University Art Museum at the University of  Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), had been  invited to a reception at the home of Maurice Dedieu, the French linguistic attaché.  Prior to his time in Lafayette, Dedieu had lived in Senegal and discovered exquisite  paintings on glass.



 "On the walls of his house were these amazing paintings of Senegal," Mhire  remembered.

 Dedieu had also related to Mhire the incredible music he had heard in Senegal,  particularly Senegalese musicians Arfan and Kinda Diabate Kouyate.

 In early 1985, Mhire organized the exhibition "Senegal: Narrative Paintings" at the  museum and the Kouyates traveled to Lafayette to conduct a one-week residency.  They performed traditional Senegalese griot music at the museum, in Lafayette Parish  schools, at Southern University in Baton Rouge and for Louisiana Public Broadcasting.  Their final concert on the university campus was sold out.



 The music had a profound impact on Mhire, who grew up on a Cajun farm outside  Lafayette. When he later traveled to Jordan, Amsterdam and New York on business his  exposure to world culture intensified.

 "I thought Lafayette needed an international festival," Mhire said. "My motivation as an  educator was to open doors and windows to other experiences."

 Mhire contacted a host of city officials who would be instrumental in bringing about  such a festival - Philippe Gustin, director of the Council for the Development of French  in Louisiana (CODOFIL); Jean Goyer, head of the Délégation du Quebec in Lafayette;  Donnie Robin, administrative assistant to then Lafayette Parish President Walter  Comeaux; Cathy Weber, director of the Downtown Development Authority; and Phil  Lank, director of Community Development for the City of Lafayette. Michael Doucet of  BeauSoleil, who was performing all over the world at the time, was the vice president  of production and programming.



 There were many skeptics and obstacles to overcome, Mhire said, but the timing  worked. Depressed oil prices had taken a hard toll on the Lafayette economy with  people joking, "Will the last person leaving Lafayette please turn off the lights." But the  economy was beginning to bounce back. Both state and local tourism officials saw a  festival as a way to promote cultural tourism and stimulate the economy.

 "They were looking for a way to climb out of this hole and a way to feel good about  themselves and feel good about the community," Mhire explained. "Ironically, the  depression created an environment that allowed ideas to be considered.

 "Cathy Weber once said that a consultant probably would have said it was impossible  to do," Mhire continued. "It is lucky for us such a person didn't exist. Sometimes it's  better to follow your instinct and intuition. That's what we did and it turned out pretty  well."

 The founding board visited festivals in Quebec and met every Wednesday night at City  Hall hashing out details. They received grants from tourism and Francophone countries  and attracted hundreds of musicians and volunteers for the first Festival International  de Louisiane July 2-5, 1987, in downtown Lafayette.



 The opening act on the main stage was a group of New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians that  performed in elaborate costumes until a thunderstorm sent everyone running for  shelter. After the storm subsided, Mhire feared the worst. "I'm thinking, 'Oh my God  this is doomed.'"

 When he made it to the stage, he spotted smoke rising. The Master Drummers of  Rwanda were warming the skins on their drums.



 "I'll never forget the policeman," Doucet said. "He couldn't arrest them because he  didn't know what to arrest them for!"

 When the Master Dummers began playing, what happened next would change Lafayette  forever.

 "The syncopated, complex rhythms of those drums - they had the most complex  patterns," Mhire related. "We're sitting there, our jaws dropped. We were all  mesmerized."
 

 Soon hundreds of spectators returned.

 "I thought that something very powerful was connecting," Mhire said. "Maybe that's the  international power of music. Lafayette does respond to performing arts and music is  essential to the identity of this place. You didn't need to convince people. They  responded on an emotional level."

 "It was so unexpected," Doucet said. "The magnitude of luck to pull it off. People really  loved it."