Warm days, cool evenings … springtime in Louisiana is a perfect time to be outside, and there’s no better way to celebrate the season than by breaking out the lawn chairs at Mayfest 2023, the vibrant music festival that takes over downtown Leesville each May. The stage is set on Third Street, where locals roll out the red carpet to welcome visitors from all over the state and nearby regions.
Throughout its four-decade-plus history this award-winning festival, which won the 2012 Louey (an award bestowed each year by the Louisiana Travel Association), has boasted a huge lineup of artists, performers, and genres: rock’n roll, swamp blues, jazz, southern gospel, country, Cajun, and zydeco to name a few (yep, there’s more). Musicians, including Grammy Award nominees and longtime Louisiana favorites, keep the stage jumping for two days: Friday evening, May 5 and Saturday, May 6, with programming beginning early and continuing into the late evening each day.
Ken Frischkorn
Mayfest 2017
Mayfest, which is produced by the Vernon Parish Tourism Commission, is a true community affair that draws vendors from all over the state. They come to showcase arts and crafts (from potters to woodworkers), and cuisine in the festival’s artisan village. In recent years, the official poster for the festival has been created by artists from Leesville’s Gallery One Ellleven, an artist’s co-op that celebrates the culture of western Louisiana.
A convivial atmosphere, the textured strumming of many musical genres, and festive food and beverages (that funnel cake sure is calling our name) –– need we say more? So grab those lawn chairs and kick back, relax, and let the sounds of Mayfest welcome you to this gem of a festival in Vernon Parish this spring.
Here’s the official lineup for Mayfest 2023. Visit https://vernonparish.org/events/mayfest to learn more.
Friday, May 5 Lineup
4:00pm –– 10:30pm
- Julian Primeaux
- Louisiana Scramble
- Old Man Band
- Abigayle Holt & The Bootleg Revival
- Glen Templeton
Saturday, May 6 Lineup
9:00am –– 10:30pm
- Opening Ceremony
- Heart United Choir
- Johnson Temple Choir
- Pleasant Hill Choir
- Dave Duplissey & Uptown Jazz
- Loosey Anna
- One Trick Pony
- Mark Newman
- Johnny Earthquake & The Moon Dogs
- Lucas Jagneaux & The Roadshow
- Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & The Zydeco Twisters
