Louisiana Celebrates - Food & Festivals Around The State

If you want to learn about a region's culture, eat their food and join in their festivals!  When a state celebrates, you get a serious taste of what the local history is all about.  When you dive into the cuisine of a local festival, listen to their music, and listen to the people, you can't help but hear the heartbeat of a region.

The state of Louisiana has more than her fair share of festivals.  Louisiana has been referred to as the 'Festival Capital of the World' due to the sheer number of festivals found throughout the state.  At one count there were over 400 festivals throughout the year, some big, some small.  No matter what the focus – music, food, heritage, arts, crafts, dance, holidays – a Louisiana festival is bound to please every participant.  Let's take a look.

Festivals You Might Expect

Crawfish and tiki people. Mardi Gras street costumers in the French Quarter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We can't talk about festivals in Louisiana without talking about Mardi Gras.  But, do you know what Mardi Gras is all about?  This is a huge celebration in early Spring, culminating with Fat Tuesday (tomorrow!), the  day before Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent on the church calendar.  This festival is all about having a last big party before the sacrifices of Lent begin.  Fat Tuesday is meant to be a 'devil may care' day of decadence; eat, drink, and be merry.  Even though New Orleans has become famous for merry-making during Mardi Gras, other cities, like Mobile and Baton Rouge have huge celebrations, many dating back to before New Orleans even considered having a Mardi Gras parade.

Along with Mardi Gras, seafood festivals abound!   Location demands this abundant resource be celebrated, cooked, and eaten in large quantities.  You certainly expect to find festivals like the Louisiana Seafood Festival or the Bridge City Gumbo Festival.  And, you know there's got to be some good catfish at the Franklin Parish Catfish Festival in Winnsboro.

When crawfish are in season, you can hardly turn a corner without finding a festival featuring these tasty crustaceans.  At the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival in May, you'll be able to sample huge flats of boiled crawfish, along with crawfish baked in pies, cooked up in gumbo, or featured in all sorts of ways you simply can't resist.  Remember, when you search for crawfish festivals, include the word 'mudbugs.'  Otherwise, you might miss out on a few, such as the Mudbug Madness Festival in Shreveport.  Truth be known, you could eat nothing but crawfish, or 'mudbugs,' for months at Louisiana festivals. Crawfish were one of my favorite things about living in Louisiana, and I still miss them all these years later!

Music festivals are also abundant, which shouldn't surprise you in this land of American music.  You'll find the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Baton Rouge Blues Festival, and the Creole Zydeco Festival, just to name a few.

Crawfish mound (Photo credit: izik)

Festivals That May Surprise You

Once we wander beyond the well known Louisiana favorites, there are some celebrations that may surprise you.  Louisiana is nothing if it is not diverse.  Beyond seafood and jazz, what does Louisiana have to offer?  A lot!

Enjoy a sweet treat at the Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival.  Find new and wonderful ways to enjoy tomatoes at the Creole Tomato Festival in New Orleans,.  If you're in the vicinity of  Farmerville, sink your teeth in some sweet goodness at the Watermelon Festival.  If you think yams and sweet potatoes need celebrating, dig in at the Yambilee Festival in Opelousas.  There's even a Rice Festival.  Trust Louisiana to make rice exciting and delicious!

Want more food?  Join in the fun at the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival in September.  Craving sweets?    Take a trip to enjoy a few slices of  pie at the Lecompte Pie Festival in October.  If you haven't had your fill of music yet, but want to experience something surprising, check out the Voodoo Music Experience in New Orleans or the Zydeco Festival in LaBeau.

Scroll through any Louisiana festival website and you'll find pages and pages of festivals, big and small, literally every day of the year.  You can hardly throw a stone in the state without hitting a festival tent!  Fill up your car and hit the road.  You will never regret exploring the Louisiana festival scene - or it's food.

And if you want to bring some Louisiana flavor to your own kitchen, be sure to check out this week's and last week's recipes for some good eats at home!