Festival Season
Published 7:00 am Tuesday, March 7, 2017
- Festival Season
Acadiana Spring Festivals 2017
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Byline: Wynce Nolley
Acadiana always has a festival just around the corner honoring virtually anything from the food, heritage, music, wildlife, land and people, which are second to none anywhere else in the world. With spring right around the corner, local festivals are popping up ahead of the hot summer months. With this in mind, Acadiana Lifestyle has prepared an easy go-to guide for all of the major festivals coming to the area this spring.
Celtic Bayou Festival
Date: March 10-11
Location: Parc Putnam, Downtown Lafayette.
Admission: Free
Contact: CelticBayouFest.com
About: A family friendly event to celebrate the Irish culture while instilling an appreciation of this heritage in current and future generations.
ArTech Fusion 17
Date: March 17
Time: 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Location: Acadiana Center for the Arts, 101 W. Vermilion St., Lafayette
Contact: www.Arts.Louisiana.edu
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.
Acadian Memorial Heritage Festival and Wooden Boat Congrés
Date: March 18
Location: Downtown St. Martinville.
Contact: AcadianMemorial.org.
About: This year’s festival will be taking on the theme of the St. Martinville Bicentennial, Renaissance de la Ville – Rebirth of the Town, and will honor the Bourgeois and Duhon families, but is 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 18, 9 a.m. – 4 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, live music, pony rides, children activities, crafts, sweet booths and more.
Acadiana Dragon Boat Festival
Date: March 25, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Location: Bouligny Plaza, 102 W Main St., New Iberia.
Contact: 337-352-2180,
LouisianaTravel.com.
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 along with a burger cook-off, vendors, live music and family-friendly activities.
World Championship Crawfish Etouffee Cook Off
Date: March 26, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Location: Northwest Community Center Pavilion – 651 Samuel Dr., Eunice.
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.
Dave Robicheaux’s Hometown Literary Festival
Date: March 31 – April 2
Location: Downtown New Iberia
Contact: 337-369-6446,
IberiaTravel.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 1
Location: Parc Sans Souci,
201 E Vermilion St., Lafayette.
Contact: AcadianaPoboyFestival.com
About: This festival celebrates the legacy of the humble po’boy sandwich, expands its boundaries and seeks to promote the culture & hospitality of Acadiana through food, music and fun. Vendors will be selling po’boys, beverages, arts and crafts, kids activities, live entertainment and more.
Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage Week
Date: April 8 – 13
Location: Vermilionville,
300 Fisher Rd., Lafayette.
Contact: 337-234-8360,
brLAFolkRoots.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.
Lao New Year Celebration
Date: April 14 – 15, 8 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Location: Wat Thammarattanaram Temple, 7913 Champa Ave., Broussard.
Contact: 337-251-6624,
brIberiaTravel.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.
Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival/Wooden Boat Show
Date: April 21 – 22
Location: Bayou Teche,
Downtown Main St., Franklin.
Contact: 985-380-8224, 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 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as “threatened” under the guidelines of the Endangered Species Act.
Scott Boudin Festival
Date: April 21 -23
Location: 125 Lions Club St., Scott.
Contact: 337-233-1130, ScottBoudinFestival.com.
About: This festival offers a family friendly weekend with carnival rides, bands, arts and crafts, lots of food and boudin cooked many, many ways.
Etouffee Festival
Date: April 21 – 23
Location: St. John Francis Regis Church, 370 Main St., Arnaudville.
Admission: Free
Contact: 337-754-5912,
CajunTravel.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.
Stir the Pot: Seafood Cook-off and Festival
Date: April 22, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Location: Palmetto
brIsland State Park, 19501 Pleasant Rd., Abbeville.
Contact: 337-898-6600, StirThePotCookOff.com.
About: This Louisiana seafood cook-off and fundraiser for Palmetto Island State Park includes activities like live music, auctions and more.
Le Feu et L’Eau (Fire and Water) Rural Arts Celebration
Date: April 22 – 23
Location: NUNU Arts and Culture Collective, 1510 Bayou Courtableau Hwy., Arnaudville.
Contact: 337-453-3307,
CajunTravel.com,
About: The Fire and Water Rural Arts Celebration is a two-day event where guests can participate in cooking demos, watch feature films, hear live music, listen to poetry and shop local art vendors.
Festival International de Louisiane 2017
Date: April 26 – 30
Location: Downtown Lafayette
Admission: Free
Contact: www.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.
Cajun Woodstock
Date: April 29 – 30
Location: City Park,
100 E Darbonne St., Church Point.
Admission: $5
Contact: 337-280-8710, CajunWoodstock.com.
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About: Cajun Woodstock is a community benefit concert for St. Jude Children’s Hospital designed to help raise awareness and money to fight childhood disease.
