Fête Season on Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou

As the weather warms and spring blooms, festival season kicks off in Louisiana, offering a spirited showcase of Cajun culture, cuisine, and music. With plentiful offerings of fairs and celebrations, visitors are invited to experience some authentic, South Louisiana joie de vivre along Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou. 

April Attractions

Begin your festival journey in Larose with the inaugural Bayou Lafourche Music Festival on April 20, which promises a day filled with local music, art, and delicious food at the Larose Civic Center. Stick around, because from April 19 to 21 you can also join the fun at La Fete Du Monde, taking place on the grounds of the Cajun Bayou Visitor Center in Raceland. Dubbed the “swamp pop extravaganza,” La Fete Du Monde promises a good deal of dancing, delivered with generous helpings of games, carnival rides, and mouthwatering food. Come to the Laurel Valley Spring Festival on April 28 and you’ll move to the beat of Cajun music while shopping for arts and crafts at the country’s largest surviving 19th and 20th-century sugar cane plantation. The free festival’s epicenter is around the Laurel Valley Village Store in Thibodaux.

Mark your calendars for May

One of the nation's largest volunteer fire department festivals, the Thibodaux Fireman’s Fair (May 2–5) turns up the heat with live music, a live auction, food, rides, a 5k run/walk, and a parade. Don’t even think about leaving Thibodaux without bellying up for an all-you-can-eat Mud Bug Boil Off on May 11. This crawfish cook–off celebrates Louisiana’s beloved crustacean alongside live music and a live auction, too. On May 17–18, keep your eyes peeled for glowing balloons to find Golden Meadow’s Louisiana Boulettes and Balloons Festival, where you’ll experience a hot air balloon race, cooking competitions, Cajun fare, and games taking place in beautiful Oak Ridge Community Park.

Festival joy continues in June and July 

There’s only one place in the world where you can expect to find the combination of grillades, gumbo, jambalaya, cracklins, and even more delectable Cajun delicacies, all available to sample side-by-side. Find all these “good eats'' when the 50th annual Gheens Bon Mangé Festival returns to the Vacherie-Gheens Community Center, June 7–9. From Gheens, it’s a short hop to the Larose Civic Center to take in the Cajun Heritage Festival, happening that same weekend. View hundreds of unique duck decoys, watch carving demos, enter a duck calling contest, and enjoy still more Cajun food, raffles, and vendor booths. On June 8, be sure to save some free time (and room) to enjoy Thibodaux on Tap, the annual craft beer fest that’s held in downtown Thibodaux.

Heading into peak summer, hardcore fishers will want to set a course for the Golden Meadow Fourchon Tarpon Rodeo July 4–6, It’s an opportunity to take part in one of South Louisiana's most prestigious fishing tournaments, or just enjoy the live music and hotly contested King of the Catch Cook Off. Find information on all these events and more at Louisiana Cajun Bayou.