How big a difference, culture wise, is Northern Louisiana different from Southern Louisiana? (New Orleans: houses, wedding)

[notasmoker]

As a south Louisiana native, I have found one main difference is accents. Folks in North La. tend to have traditional "southern" accents while folks in South La. tend to have very unique accents. And, people from New Orleans do NOT sound like the cast from The Big Easy movie.

[Rmaf623]

You can still find some South Louisiana traditions like crawfish boils and Mardi Gras in North Louisiana. Shreveport and Monroe both have Mardi Gras parades and celebrations but nowhere near to the degree of those down south.

Alexandria is about where the transition between North and South Louisiana takes place. Alexandria has more characteristics of North Louisiana than South Louisiana in my opinion. Still, their is a sizeable Catholic population in Alexandria consisting of Cajuns, Belgians who settled along Bayou Rapides, and other groups. Cajun culture really becomes noticeable when you cross over to Avoyelles Parish from Rapides.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by Rmaf623

You can still find some South Louisiana traditions like crawfish boils and Mardi Gras in North Louisiana. Shreveport and Monroe both have Mardi Gras parades and celebrations but nowhere near to the degree of those down south.

Alexandria is about where the transition between North and South Louisiana takes place. Alexandria has more characteristics of North Louisiana than South Louisiana in my opinion. Still, their is a sizeable Catholic population in Alexandria consisting of Cajuns, Belgians who settled along Bayou Rapides, and other groups. Cajun culture really becomes noticeable when you cross over to Avoyelles Parish from Rapides.

Is there a Cajun influence in Meeker, Lecompte, and/or Cheneyville ? Somehow I don't think the Cajun "boundary" stops entirely at the Rapides/Avoyelles parish line.

[Rmaf623]

Originally Posted by BRMan

Is there a Cajun influence in Meeker, Lecompte, and/or Cheneyville ? Somehow I don't think the Cajun "boundary" stops entirely at the Rapides/Avoyelles parish line.

Meeker, Lecompte, and Cheneyville and other parts of southeast Rapides are probably somewhat more Cajun than Alexandria but you will still find many non-Cajuns in this area. When you cross the Avoyelles Parish line going down Highway 1, you enter the predominately Cajun Belle-deau area.

[palmtrees_are_kool]

So is it correct to compair New Orleans to New York culture speaking.

[HipLib]

This wiki article helps explain south Louisiana.
Acadiana - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[palmtrees_are_kool]

I never knew this topic would be so interesting lol

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by palmtrees_are_kool

So is it correct to compair New Orleans to New York culture speaking.

Pretty much. The accent is NOT southern, and it's very annoying when movies set in New Orleans have its actors speaking southern accents.

[BRMan]

Originally Posted by palmtrees_are_kool

I never knew this topic would be so interesting lol

It's interesting to us, because it colors many aspects of Louisiana life.

BTW, if you really want to be nitpicky about the map showing the Cajun parishes, the northern parts of Avoyelles and Evangeline Parishes are really more Protestant/north Louisiana, while the northern fringe of Ascension Parish are really BR suburbs.

[hdwell]

Where you start seeing sugarcane fields like around Bunkie and Cheneyville is kind of like the entrance into Cajun country.