• The grand finale
• Melançon name made a mark on Acadiana
• On final evening, 'tout le monde et Cajun' 
• Acadian Congress Closes
• Cajundome concert closes Congrès Mondial 
• Distant Descendants of the Acadians Get Together in Louisiana

LAFAYETTE -- ''La Derni?re Danse'' (''The Last Dance'') ended late Sunday
night in the Cajundome for the Congr?s Mondial Acadien Louisiane-1999
but the sweet music of worldwide Acadian solidarity continues.
It was the second such event and late last week it was announced that
the next would be held in Nova Scotia in 2004. It will celebrate the
400th anniversary of the founding of the first permanent European
settlement in the New World north of Central Mexico, three years before
the birth of Jamestown, Va.

The first World Congress of Acadians was held in New Brunswick, Canada,
in 1994.

That event -- meant as a one-time prelude for the 2004 celebration --
was such a success that it inspired not only the merrymaking of the last
two weeks but the year-long celebration of 300 years of French culture
in Louisiana called FrancoFete '99 which is still ongoing in all 64
parishes of Louisiana and will continue until the beginning of the next
millennium.

FrancoFete has been dubbed ''the greatest tourist initiative in the
history of Louisiana'' by the Louisiana Office of Tourism.
Poet, musician and song-writer Zachary Richard last week said he
understood that after the Nova Scotia festival two more would be held in
northern France and then the event would return to Louisiana in 20
years.

Others presumably ''in the know'' said no decisions have been made beyond
the event in Nova Scotia.

Jean-Marie Nadeau, who has been called ''the father'' of the 1994
celebration, said in St. Martinville last weekend that, ''It's getting to
be like the Olympics. Everyone wants it.''

He said Quebec City and Montreal in Canada both wanted to host the first
celebration.

Poitier, France, has been mentioned as a possible site for the third.
Many of the original Acadians came from Poitier and the Poitou region of
France.

''But I don't know,'' Nadeau said, obviously pleased with the momentum of
the gigantic cultural ball he started rolling five years ago. ''It's not
up to me to make the decision.''

Brian Gabriel Comeaux, president and executive director of the Louisiana
CMA, said Monday that all the speculation was premature.
''There is talk of Poitier in 2009,'' he said, adding that so much
interest has been generated that the event could possibly be scheduled
every two years instead of every five.

''Not every year, though,'' he said, calling himself ''tired but happy.''
''It takes too much out of everybody all around."
''All I want to say is that the state of Louisiana needs to support (the
Nova Scotia CMA) in the way that our Acadian family delegations from
Canada supported this one.''

Everyone directly concerned said Monday it was far too early to
ascertain the economic, cultural and linguistic impact of the CMA.
Council for the Development of French in Louisiana Executive Director
David Charamie, however, said, ''CODOFIL will be the ultimate beneficiary
of the CMA.''

''We no longer have to prove the validity of our program. It is an
established fact, now.''

Nadeau, speaking at the Acadian Memorial in St. Martinville last
weekend, said simply, ''Why not?'' to a suggestion of another CMA in
Louisiana early in the next century.

Nadeau is a obviously a man who would always rather ask, ''Why not?'' than
''Why?''

''Holding the (CMA) is maybe a prerequisite before welcoming a French
summit for the heads of state (of all the French-speaking countries of
the world),'' he said. ''Why not in Louisiana in many years?''