Louisiana Festivals
Shrimp Festival
Every year Delcambre,
Louisiana blesses the fleet of
its shrimp boats to begin what
is known as the Shrimp
Festival. Delcambre has one
of the most productive fleets
in the region. The third full
weekend in August is the
weekend dedicated to
celebrating this economic
livelihood. The weekend is
filled with pageants, cook-offs,
food booths, carnival rides,
and fais-do-do’s.
Rice Festival
Crowley is the home of the Rice Festival. It is
held the third weekend in October and is one of
Louisiana’s oldest and largest festivals. This
festival calls attention to the importance of rice in
Louisiana’s economy. The weekend is filled with
balls and banquets, eating contests, cooking
contests, livestock shows, musical entertainment,
pageants, and parades.
Frog Festival
The Frog Festival is an unusual
but exciting weekend dedicated
to celebrating Rayne’s heritage
of being the largest worldwide
shipper of frog legs throughout
the 20th century. The weekend is
filled with activities such as a
frog jumping contest, a diaper
race, frog races, fais-do-do’s,
carnival rides, food booths, and
pageants. The festival taken
place in November for the last
few years, but at one time it was
held in September.
Festival Acadien
Festival Acadien is a combination of cultural
festivals celebrated in Lafayette, Louisiana on
the third weekend of September. Festival de
Musique Acadienne attracts the best of Cajun
and Zydeco bands from across the country and around the world. It was originally
designed to attract the younger crowd in order to educate them in the Cajun
culture. Heritage Pavilion is one of the most unique music venues at Festivals
Acadiens. Girard Park is the location of workshops and a performance stage used
for performances by the best in Cajun and Creole music. Anyone can bring and
instrument and jam in the sessions that take place throughout the weekend at the
Louisiana Folk Roots Tent. The Louisiana Crafts Fair presents traditional and fine
artists and craftspeople demonstrating and selling. While listening to the unique
Cajun and Zydeco music you can shop at the Crafts Fair which is located within
walking distance from the music venues.
Jazz
Festival
New Orleans is the birth place of jazz.
The jazz festival, however, is not just a
celebration of jazz, but instead a celebration of the music created
from within the boundaries of Louisiana. The last week of April
and the first week of May are dedicated to the inspiration of music.
The festival features a wide variety of venders filling the streets
with local food and crafts. There is a large area dedicated to the
cultural and historical practices uniquely found in Louisiana.
Yambilee Festival
The Yambilee Festival is held
annually in Opelousas, Louisiana
during the last full week in
October. It was born over a cup of
coffee between two friends as a
way to honor the local sweet
potato industry. It was said that
this festival was to assist in the
advancement of the material
prosperity and progress of the
State of Louisiana. This week long
festival includes activities such as
parades, pageants, carnival rides,
music, and food.
Crawfish
Festival
In 1960 the Legislation named
Breaux Bridge, Louisiana the
Crawfish Capital of the world.
Since then every May Breaux
Bridge has held an annual
Crawfish Festival. This festival has become one of the largest
gatherings of world famous Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop music.
Over a period of three days approximately thirty bands will play
while hungry people flock there to enjoy the many dishes prepared
with crawfish. The weekend entertainment also includes cook-offs,
crawfish races, dance contests, parades, and carnival rides.
Cattle Festival
Abbeville, Louisiana holds the Annual Louisiana
Cattle Festival on the first full week in October.
It was originally known as the Dairy Festival
but was changed to the Cattle Festival to honor
the cattle industry within Louisiana. Each year
outstanding people are selected for honors such
as Grand Marshall, Citizen of the Year, Outstanding Cattleman,
Restauranteur of the Year, and Outstanding 4-H Scholarship Winner.
The fun-filled three-day Festival includes events such Cooking
Contest, Queen's Pageant, Cattle Livestock Show, Parade, Live
Entertainment, Street Dancing "Fais Do Do" and Street Fair. Booths
with Food, Drinks, Souvenirs, Arts and Crafts, and Cajun Hospitality
are available during the entire Festival.
Duck
Festival
In 1977 Gueydan was named the ”Duck Capital of
America” by Louisiana Secretary of State. An annual
fair is held the weekend before Labor Day dedicated
to the hunting heritage of the Acadiana region. In addition to great
food and bands, there are parades,
pageants, auctions, carnival rides, and
arts and crafts. Contests such as the
duck and goose calling, skeet
shooting, and cook-offs held the
weekend of the Duck Festival.
Cotton Festival
The second full weekend in October, Ville Platte hosts the
Louisiana Cotton Festival and Le Tournoi de la Ville Platte.
The festivities begin on Tuesday evening when authentic
Acadian music, followed by the crowning of the Le Roi and
La Reine (king and queen) of the local nursing home. On
Wednesday, the local 4-H members hold a cookery contest
and the Cotton Pickin' Pet Show. There is a carnival all week
long for the children to enjoy. A beautiful harvest mass is
celebrated to give thanks to our Creator for the bountiful crops followed by a
colorful parade with floats, visiting queens, marching bands and the Tournoi riders
dressed as knights ready for battle. After the parade, the riders run Le Tournoi (the
traditional jousting tournament). Riders representing the Knights
of the Round Table carry lances that they use to try to collect
seven small iron rings (representing evils that destroy cotton)
located around a quarter-mile circular track. The Tournoi Queen
accepts the winning knight in the Ball that evening concluding the
festival.
Peach Festival
The city of Ruston has the
largest orchard in Louisiana.
They celebrate each year with
an annual Peach Festival held
on the fourth weekend in June.
This festival has a variety of
entertainment such as a pie
eating contest, fishing
tournament, rodeo, and
antique car show. The Queen
Dixie Gem and the Princess
Peach can dance the night
away at the Peach Jam in the
evenings.
Strawberry Festival
In April, Ponchatoula, Louisiana,
hosts the Annual Strawberry
Festival. This festival prides itself
knowing that the only venders
allowed on the grounds are nonprofit organizations. The
celebration includes a festival ball,
talent show, Miss. Strawberry
Pageant, and baking contest. Food
booths and carnival rides are
located all around the fair grounds.
Christmas
Festival
The Christmas Festival of Lights is
located in Natchitoches,
Louisiana. Beginning at the end
of November and continuing until
January it is one of the nation’s oldest community-based holiday
celebration. Mini-festivals are held every weekend in December.
The Christmas Festival is on the first weekend of December. This
festival brings in over 100,000 people each year whom wish to enjoy
the parade, live entertainment, food, fairs, craft shows and fireworks
shown over the Cane River Lake. Some even take a nightly tour by
street car or horse and carriage.
Pecan Festival
The Louisiana Pecan
Festival takes place the first
full weekend of November
each year. The Queen’s
Pageant is held in October
officially kicking off the
festival. Festival activities
include craft booths,
costume contests, musical
entertainment, cooking
contest, carnival rides, and
fireworks.
Cracklin Festival
The Cracklin Festival began in 1985 as a fund-raiser for the Port
Barre, Lions Club. The profits are donated to people with
special causes or needs. Like most festivals, the Cracklin Festival
has a variety of entertainment for all ages. Great food, live
bands and carnival rides fill the fair grounds the second week in
November for the Cracklin Festival. There is a Queen’s Pageant
with fifteen different age division, parades, a craft show and of
course a Cracklin Cook-off.
Gumbo Festival
Fun rides, live music, and over
2000 gallons of gumbo is exactly
what one would expect in Bridge
City for their annual Gumbo
Festival held the second full
weekend of October. One can
enjoy plenty of Cajun and Zydeco
music at the fais-do-do’s. There is
also a Beautiful Child Contest, and
a 5K run over the Huey P. Long
Bridge. King Creole Gumbo and
Miss Creole Gumbo will be on
hand to greet and welcome
everyone visiting for the festive
occasion.
Jambalaya Festival
Gonzales, Louisiana was named the ‘Jambalaya Capital of the World’
by Governor John McKeithen in 1968. With this wonderful news a
festival was born. In the early years of this festival, the Jambalaya
Queen would reign over events, like boxing on the football field,
bingo in the gym, dancing to the music of five local bands, and the
children carnival. In recent years the festival includes live bands,
various cooking contests, a 5K run, and carnival rides for the kids. It
has grown from having only 13 cooks
participating in this event to having at
least 69 cooks competing for the
Jambalaya World Title.
Zwolle Tamale
Fiesta
The three-day event is held in Zwolle each year the
second weekend in October on the Zwolle Festival
Grounds. The Fiesta itself stems from a combination
of Indian and Spanish efforts to produce the greatest
hot tamale in the country. The Zwolle Tamale Fiesta
is this towns way of recognizing the area's heritage. There are plenty
of delicious hot tamales, entertainment, arts and crafts, dancing,
parades, and children's activities. The Fiesta is fun for the entire
family. Activities planned for the Fiesta include a tamale making
demonstration, tamale eating and tamale judging contest, treasure
hunt, street dance, arts & crafts, and a parade. It also features
pageants, arm wrestling contests for all ages, Spanish costume
contests, rides and food booths, the very popular Fiesta Mud Bog
Race for trucks.
Sugarcane Festival
New Iberia honors the sugar industry on
the last full weekend of September with its
annual Sugarcane Festival. Weekend
activities include an Annual Sugarcane
Festival Run, The King’s Reception, The
Queen’s Sugar Contest, a festive ball and
the blessing of the crops. The weekend is
filled with craft shows, cooking contests,
fais-do-do’s, and firework displays. There
are many parades to see this weekend but
the most entertaining would be the annual
boat parade. In the boat parade people
decorate their boats and ride along Bayou
Tech tossing candy into the crowds of
people waving along the bayou.
Swine Festival
In 1966, the first Swine Festival was held in Basile,
Louisiana. It’s purpose was to express the importance
of raising and selling feeder pigs. Although swine
producing is no longer an industry the people of Basile
still celebrate this festival to promote the swine industry and the
Cajun Culture. You can find entertainment of all kinds at the Swine
Festival. King Porky and Queen Petunia have put together a variety of
activities such as boudin eating, hog calling, and greasy pig chases,
live bands, and great food. Throughout
the weekend you can find young and old
on the carnival rides, watching the
parade, or eating the wonderful Cajun
cuisines.
Use three festivals from this presentation and complete the
chart below. Write a brief summary about your findings.
Festival Name
Where
When
City
Month
Parade
Queen
Food
Dancing
Rides
Yes or
No
Yes or
No
Yes or
No
Yes or
No
Yes or
No
Something
Unique