2018 Spring Festival Schedule

Acadiana needs little reason to celebrate and that is punctuated by the fact that at any given time in the year a festival is just around the corner. The area’s famous festival culture honors virtually anything from the food, heritage, music, wildlife, land and people. With the temperatures starting to rise and spring being right around the corner, local festivals are popping up ahead of the summer months. With this in mind, Acadiana Lifestyle has prepared an easy reference guide for all of the major festivals coming to the area this spring.

 

ArTech Fusion 2018

Date: March 16

Location: Acadiana Center for the Arts, 101 W. Vermilion St., Lafayette

Contact: AcadianaCenterfortheArts.org

About: ArTech Fusion will feature performances and talks that promote and highlight the dynamic relationship between the arts and technology, through the use of creative collaboration.

Celtic Bayou Festival

Date: March 16-17

Location: Warehouse 535, 535 Garfield St., Downtown Lafayette.

Admission: $10, $15

Contact: CelticBayouFest.com

About: A family friendly event held St. Patrick’s Day weekend to celebrate the Irish culture while instilling an appreciation of this heritage in current and future generations.

 

Acadian Memorial Heritage Festival and Wooden Boat Congrés

Date: March 17

Location: Evangeline Oak, 122 Evangeline St., Downtown St. Martinville.

Admission: Free

Contact: 337-394-2258, info@AcadianMemorial.org or LafayetteTravel.com.

About: This annual museum-style festival highlights Cajun tradition and music. The festival is free and open to all, Acadian or not. Consider wearing a costume and join in to celebrate the Acadian culture and St. Martinville.

Festival of Live Oaks

Date: March 17, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Location: New Iberia City Park, 300 Parkview Dr., New Iberia.

Contact: 337-369-2337, IberiaTravel.com.

About: Come celebrate spring at New Iberia City Park with fun, family-friendly activities, including a barbecue cook off, Easter egg hunt, live music, pony rides, children activities, crafts, sweet booths and more.

 

Acadiana Dragon Boat Festival

Date: March 24, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Location: Bouligny Plaza, 102 W Main St., New Iberia.

Admission: Boat registration – $2,200, viewing is free

Contact: 337-352-2180, IberiaOnTap.com/Dragon-Boat.

About: Experience authentic dragon boats racing down Bayou Teche that are powered to the finish line by 20 paddlers while one drummer keeps the beat. There is also a burger cook-off, vendors, live music and family-friendly activities throughout the day.

 

World Championship Crawfish Etouffee Cook Off

Date: March 24, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Location: Northwest Community Center Pavilion – 651 Samuel Dr., Eunice.

Admission: Free

Contact: 337-457-2565, EtouffeeCookOff.org.

About: This event features professional and amateur cooks vying for the title of “World Champion,” and is one of the best ways to taste some of the best crawfish in Louisiana. Teams compete to see who can cook the best crawfish etouffee in three categories: Amateur, Professional and Club/Organization. Once the judges have their samples from the booths, the public can buy the crawfish etouffee directly from the participants and vote for the People’s Choice Award.

Lao New Year Celebration

Date: March 30, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Location: Wat Thammarattanaram Temple, 7913 Champa Ave., Broussard.

Contact: 337-251-6624, IberiaTravel.com.

About: The Lanexang Village celebrates the Lao New Year every Easter weekend with a three-day festival that includes live music, a beauty pageant, parades, sand castle building, kids activities and several vendors selling clothes, jewelry, music and food from Southeast Asia.

Scott Boudin Festival

Date: April 6 – 8

Location: 125 Lions Club St., Scott.

Contact: 337-233-1130, ScottBoudinFestival.com.

About: This festival, held in the “Boudin Capital of the World,” offers a family friendly weekend with carnival rides, bands, arts and crafts, lots of food and boudin cooked many, many ways.

Books Along the Teche Literary Festival

Date: April 6 – 8

Location: Downtown New Iberia

Contact: 337-369-6446, BooksAlongtheTecheLiteraryFestival.com.

About: This literary festival honors Iberia authors and others from around the world while focusing on James Lee Burke’s legendary literary character, Dave Robicheaux, and his hometown with storytelling, workshops, academic symposium, theatrical vignettes, music, local cuisine, Dave Robicheaux tours and a 5K run.

Acadiana Po-Boy Festival

Date: April 7

Location: Parc Sans Souci, Downtown Lafayette.

Contact: AcadianaPoboyFestival.com

About: This festival celebrates the legacy of the humble poboy sandwich, expands its boundaries, and seeks to promote the culture & hospitality of Acadiana through food, music and fun. Vendors will be selling poboys, beverages, arts and crafts, kids activities, live entertainment and more.

Stir the Pot: Seafood Cook-off and Festival

Date: April 7, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Location: Palmetto

Island State Park, 19501 Pleasant Road, Abbeville.

Contact: 337-652-2484, StirThePotoff.com.

About: This Louisiana seafood cook off and fundraiser for Palmetto Island State Park includes activities like live music, auction and more.

Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival/Wooden Boat Show

Date: April 20 – 21

Location: Bayou Teche, Downtown Franklin.

Contact: BayouTecheBearFest.org.

About: The mission of the bear festival is to educate the citizens of St. Mary Parish and the surrounding area about the Louisiana black bear, a species listed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service as “threatened” under the guidelines of the Endangered Species Act.

 

Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week

Date: April 21 – 26

Location: Chicot State Park.

Contact: 337-234-8360, LAFolkRoots.org.

About: Balfa Week is not a school, or a festival, or a family reunion – it’s all those things and more. At Balfa Week, guests can learn knee-to-knee with master musicians and culture bearers surrounded by great folks from across the globe.

Semaine de la Francophone Creative Placemaking Summit

Date: April 22 – 26

Location: NUNU Arts and Culture Collective, 1510 Bayou Courtableau Hwy., Arnaudville.

Contact: 337-453-3307, Semaine-Francaise-Arnaudville.org

About: This five-day Creative Placemaking Summit features exceptional initiators who contribute to the revitalization of a city, neighborhood or region around arts and/or cultural capacity.

 

Festival International de Louisiane 2018

Date: April 25 – 29

Location: Downtown Lafayette

Admission: Free

Contact: FestivalInternational.org

About: Festival is a premiere International music and arts festival known for bringing a variety of unique and emerging performers to Louisiana that will feature seven music stages, arts and crafts vendors, local food and other family friendly activities.

Etouffee Festival

Date: April 28

Location: St. John Francis Regis Church, 370 Main St., Arnaudville.

Admission: Free

Contact: 337-754-5912, LafayetteTravel.com.

About: Get a taste of the competition at the Mayor’s Cook off, which will feature a diverse variety of étouffées including crawfish, seafood, vegetable and even wild game. Festivities include carnival rides, award winning bands, bingo, Cash-n-Carry store, various vendor booths, an auto show and, of course, étouffée.