Black tie optional.
Dancing shoes? Mandatory.
An elegant evening of music, food, dancing, and artful surprises.
Mark Your Calendars for November 6, 2027
An AcA Signature Event
The Pelican Ball is an AcA’s annual gala celebrating the leading supporters of art & culture in Acadiana and all are welcome to join.
The perfect date night, each Pelican Ball ticket includes food, an open bar, and live music.
A live auction during the night will provide the only opportunity to acquire a Pelicans on Parade for your business or small-scale pelican for your home.
Your Ticket Supports
This annual gala is one of AcA’s signature fundraisers. Each ticket supports AcA programs that bring national acts of music & dance, thrilling theater productions, and cutting-edge visual arts exhibitions to Lafayette.
Your support also helps expand AcA’s community programs, which include professional development for practicing artists and Arts in Education experiences for more than 80 schools across the region, impacting 43,000 students per year.
2026 Pelican Ball Honoree
The Pelican Ball recognizes the people who have shaped the arts in Acadiana through their commitment and service. We honor both individuals who have contributed directly to the arts council’s work and individuals who have shaped the broader cultural life in Acadiana through their work.
Philip Gould
Philip Gould is a documentary and architectural photographer who has made Louisiana his home and favorite subject since 1974. Based in Lafayette, the hub of Cajun Country, he has photographed throughout the state, the south, the nation and beyond. His work has been published in over a dozen books on Louisiana as well as various periodicals from around the world. His photography has become one of the largest privately-held photographic archives on the Bayou State.
Ghost Pelican
The Ghost Pelican is a blank canvas, ready to be painted by an artist of your choosing with the design of your dreams!
If you don’t have a specific artist in mind, AcA can help facilitate an artist arrangement.
About the Pelican Ball
We honor these individuals, and we celebrate our thriving culture in the best way we know how: with a night full of food, music, and artful surprises amidst the core ‘flock’ of Acadiana’s cultural community.
Why a Pelican?
In 2000, Acadiana Center for the Arts worked with artist David Fox and students at public elementary schools served by AcA’s arts education programs to design the first “Pelicans on Parade.” In 2021, AcA re-introduced the Pelicans on Parade as part of an annual fundraiser, the Pelican Ball, where new, unique pelicans are auctioned off as part of the benefit for arts education in Acadiana.
Download the original Pelican Field Guide from way back when! This document has images of all of the original Pelicans on Parade and lots of historic info on the project.
Thank You to our 2026 Sponsors
PRESENTING SPONSOR
Lee Michaels Fine Jewelry
Benefactor Sponsor
Brown & Brown
Dr. Ann B. Dobie
Haynie Family Foundation
Jones Walker
Lafayette Music Company
Moliere Chappuis Architects
Dr. & Mrs. Thomas J. Montgomery
Joni Orazio, MD and Charles Bramlet, MD
Rees & Lanoux Family
Dr. William “Kip” & Carolyn Schumacher
Stuller Family Foundation
Patron Sponsor
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana
Colleen & John Chappuis
Tracy & Bryan Frentz
Nanette & Joe Heggie
Cherie & Ralph Kraft
Daphne & EJ Krampe
Annette & Edgar Martien
Dr. Mary B. Neiheisel
Terrie & James Simms
Sponsorship Opportunities
Patron
- Reserved Seating
- 2 Tickets
- VIP Reception Invitation
- Acknowledgement on event program
Benefactor
- Reserved seating
- 4 tickets
- VIP Reception Invitation
- Acknowledgement on event program
Presenting Sponsor
- Reserved seating
- 6 tickets
- VIP Reception invitation
- Acknowledgement on event program
Contact Corinne Sprague, AcA Development Director, to secure your sponsorship by emailing Corinne@AcadianaCenterfortheArts.org or calling 337-940-0364.