In Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, just forty-five minutes south of New Orleans, there’s an authenticity to the culinary experience that allows anyone to truly understand how a place’s food and culture are deliciously intertwined forever. Louisiana's Cajun Bayou has over twenty-five fairs and festivals throughout the year, including six seasonal food-centric festivals and events.
Meet folks gingerly turning their jambalaya with a wooden paddle or stirring their great grandmother’s aromatic gumbo recipe. This is true Cajun cookery on display with specific competitive categories: gravy, gumbo, cracklins, jambalaya and dessert. Wandering from booth to booth, you’ll hear legendary Cajun musicians playing festive tunes. Beyond the Cajun dishes, there’s an undercurrent of pride compelling the community to keep its cultural heritage alive. What better way to do that than through food?
“It’s a simple fact that when you visit Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou, you’re going to enjoy some of the best meals of your life. You don’t just ‘go out to eat’ here. Instead, it’s a whole experience. Whether you visit any of the fifteen restaurants on the Cajun Bayou Food Trail, attend one of our many culinary-themed festivals or events, or you’re just out with friends at a local crawfish or shrimp boil, every bite in Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou is a memorable one.”
Here the journey to unforgettable dining experiences begins when you venture a ways off the main road and follow the bayou as it flows through wetlands and authentic Cajun communities. Both up and down the bayou, you’ll find people celebrating life by embracing culture, food, and festivals all year long.
Louisiana Gumbo Festival
The small Cajun community of Chackbay continues to earn its title (proclaimed by Edwin Edwards himself) as "Gumbo Capital of Louisiana" while celebrating its annual festival, which cooks up over 500 gallons of gumbo over the course of a weekend. Organizers promise the best in Cajun food, music, and dancing along with a carnival mid-way, live auction, parade, and raffle. Musical acts include (but are not limited to) the Chee Weez, Tet Dur, Reese Chiasson, and Jazmine. 6 pm–midnight Friday; 11 am–midnight Saturday; 10:30 am–6 pm Sunday. Free. lagumbofest.com.
French Food Festival
The Lafourcheais, or people of Lafourche, have been doing this tasty thing each October for forty-six years now, which is to stuff Larose Regional Park with dozens of food booths then tempt thousands of festival-goers with local specialties such as white oyster soup and shrimp boulettes. Live music and dancing, art show, petting zoo, and carnival rides. LA Highway 308; driving directions on the website. Free admission. bayoucivicclub.org.
Gheens Bon Mange Festival
Down there in the Lockport neck of the woods, not too far from Lake Salvador, lies the community of Gheens. Join the good folks of Gheens for this annual 'good eats" festival featuring Cajun food, music, rides, and dancing—and a festival queen, of course. Held at the Vacherie-Gheens Community Center at 1783 Highway 654. Free admission.
Big Boy’s Main Street Cookoff
Big Boy’s Main Street Cook-Off is a culinary showcase of Cajun cuisine prepared with fresh ingredients found along the bayou. In a two-block area of historic downtown Thibodaux, Big Boy’s takes place each year as the kick-off event of the Thibodeauxville Fall Festival weekend. Admission goes to benefit Downtown Thibodaux and includes servings from over 40 cookoff participants. Gates open at 3 pm, and participants begin serving at 6 pm, with musical entertainment courtesy of Nonc Nu and da Wild Matous. $10. (985) 413-9886 downtownthibodaux.org.
Mud Bug Boil-Off
Feast for a cause at this family fun event in Historic Downtown Thibodaux area while enjoying great food and live music. Proceeds to go to three local non-profit organizations: the Children's Advocacy Center of Lafourche, Thibodaux Main Street, Inc., and the Thibodaux Fraternal Order of Police Lodge #52. Details on Facebook.
Wild Game Supper
Savor 40+ exotic dishes including ostrich, duck, deer, kangaroo, zebra, wild boar, and wild caught Louisiana seafood. Bayou Lafourche's finest chefs prepare food, and the evening includes a cash bar, live entertainment, and an auction.
La Fete Des Vieux Temps
Lafourche Parish's "Festival of the Old Times" brings back the festivities of old, featuring demonstrations of traditional boat building, an old fashioned boucherie, a sugarcane syrup mill, educational lectures on Cajun culture, and much, much more. Local artists and crafters will be on site with their wares, along with plenty of live music and local cuisine. Be sure to get a plate of old fashioned sauce piquante during the cook off on Saturday. With a "Bayou Water" (beer) in hand, prepare to fais do do all weekend long. 4484 Highway 1, under the overpass. facebook.com/lafetedesvieuxtemps.
Sponsored by Louisiana's Cajun Bayou
