Summer Festivals along LA's Cajun Bayou

Lafourche Parish is home to distinctive communities that take pride in celebrating their unique traditions and heritage. As summer approaches, towns up and down the bayou make preparations to stage colorful, utterly unique festivals that attract locals and visitors alike. Held annually on the first weekend in June, the Gheens Bon Mangé (French for “good eats) Festival has a name that says it all. From June 2 through 4, the Vacherie-Gheens Community Center becomes ground zero for a showcase of classic Cajun cuisine made using regionally sourced ingredients, following family recipes that in many cases have been passed down for generations. Promising plenty of gumbo, po-boys, and jambalaya, this festival is right at home in a parish named, literally “The Fork.” Come hungry: the Bon Mangé festival’s hashtag is  #wecountmemoriesnotcalories.

If you’re down the bayou that same weekend, save plenty of time (and appetite) to attend the Cajun Heritage Festival in the bayouside hamlet of Larose. This long-running Lafourche Parish event celebrates the art and culture of wood carving, bringing a weekend of friendly competition and exquisite craftsmanship to the Larose Civic Center. The festival features a huge exhibition of hand-carved duck decoys plus carving demos, duck calling contests, and a live auction where more than two hundred works of art going home with the highest bidder. The stunningly detailed decoys competing for the top prize are a sight to be seen, and anyone can try their hand at one of the free carving, painting, and boat building seminars held all weekend. 

Bringing June to a close is the Golden Meadow-Fourchon Tarpon Rodeo, which returns June 29–July 1 to chase record catches while raising funds to support South Lafourche students. The seventy-third annual festival features in-shore and offshore fishing tournaments, with plenty of seafood-focused delicacies to try on dry land. Will this be the year someone beats the 738-pound blue marlin record set in 1980? Or maybe the 204-pound tarpon record set in 2004? Even if fishing isn’t your game, plenty still attend to get a taste of the fresh Gulf bounty. All afternoon and into the night as the tournament scales weigh entries, barbecues sizzle as participants vie for prizes in “King of the Catch” cook offs featuring all sorts of seafoods, alligator, turtle, and more. Dig into a boiled shrimp dinner while live music fills the air. Nothing says “Louisiana summertime” better than that. 

For information on more events and festivals happening along Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, click HERE.