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Major Festivals & Events in Cajun Country
ON-GOING
EVENTS:
Rendez Vous des Cajuns
show - Eunice - Every Saturday evening, 6 PM
to 7:30 PM at the Liberty Theater, Park Avenue at Third Street, adjacent to
the Acadian Cultural Center.
Fred's Lounge - Mamou - Open Saturdays only, 8 AM to 2 PM, on Sixth Street.
Evangeline Downs Horse Racing Track - Carencro/Lafayette
- (April 1 thru Labor Day)
JANUARY:
New Year's Celebrations - Lafayette and surrounding towns
FEBRUARY:
Azalea Trail - Lafayette
Boudin & Cracklin Festival - Carencro, Fairgrounds
Bayou Ramble Antique Show & Sale BRASS - Opelousas, last full weekend in
February
MARDI GRAS IN CAJUN COUNTRY - Lafayette & surrounding
parishes.
Mardi Gras is the day before Ash Wednesday, usually in
February or March:
February 20, 2007
February 5, 2008
February 24, 2009
Count on many activities throughout the 2 weekends and week preceding the
final "Fat Tuesday" parades and festivities.
Lafayette's Le Festival de Mardi Gras is
second only to the one in New Orleans. (Lafayette's
celebrations, in contrast to those of New Orleans, are generally
family-oriented and safe).
Small towns (Church Point, Eunice, Mamou, Ville Platte,
Elton) throughout Prairie Acadiana celebrate with Les Courirs des
Mardi Gras, a rural Mardi Gras run based on the "beggars' feast" of
medieval France.
La Grande Boucherie (BOO shar ee) - St. Martinville, Sunday before Mardi
Gras
MARCH:
Downtown Alive! - Lafayette, Friday evenings
Azalea Trail - Lafayette
Audubon Pilgrimage - St. Francisville
World Championship Etouffee Cookoff - Eunice, last Sunday in March; if
Easter, the Sunday before
"Here's the Beef" Cook-Off - Opelousas
LA Beef, Rice and Gravy Cook-Off - Lafayette
Cajun Music Festival - Eunice, 2nd Sunday after Easter
APRIL:
Downtown Alive! - Lafayette, Friday evenings
Cajun Music Festival - Eunice, 2nd Sunday after Easter
Festival International de Louisiane - Lafayette, last full weekend & W,
Th, F evenings before
International Cajun Joke-Tellin' Contest - Opelousas
MAY:
Downtown Alive! - Lafayette, Friday evenings
St. Martin de Tours May Day - St. Martinville
Celebration of Herbs and Gardens - Sunset
Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival - Breaux Bridge, 1st full weekend in May
Bunk Johnson Jazz Festival - New Iberia, mid-May
Zydeco Extravaganza - Lafayette, Sunday before Memorial Day
Cajun Heartland State Fair - Lafayette
JUNE:
Downtown Alive! - Lafayette, Friday evenings
Mamou Cajun Music Festival - Mamou, Friday & Saturday of the first full
weekend in June
Church Point Buggy Festival - Church Point
JULY:
Independence-Day Celebrations - Various venues, 4th of July
Mulate's Accordion Festival - Breaux Bridge, 4th of July
Summer Cultural Arts Series - Lafayette
AUGUST:
Delcambre Shrimp Festival - Delcambre, 3rd weekend
"Le Cajun" Cajun French Music Festival - Lafayette, 3rd weekend
Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival - Plaisance / Opelousas, Saturday
before Labor Day
SEPTEMBER:
Southwest Louisiana Zydeco Music Festival - Plaisance / Opelousas, Saturday
before Labor Day
Downtown Alive! - Lafayette, Friday evenings
Rayne Frog Festival - Rayne
Creole Zydeco Festival- St. Martinville, Sunday of the 1st full weekend
Festivals Acadiens - Lafayette, 3rd full weekend
Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival & Fair - New Iberia, last full weekend
OCTOBER:
Downtown Alive! - Lafayette, Friday evenings
Mamou Zydeco and Blues Festival - Mamou, 1st Friday and Saturday
Louisiana Cattle Festival & Fair - Abbeville
Cajun Heritage & Music Festival - Lafayette
Eunice Prairie Cajun Folklife Festival - Eunice, 3rd weekend
Louisiana Cotton Festival - Ville Platte
International Rice Festival - Crowley
Louisiana Yambilee - Opelousas
NOVEMBER:
Downtown Alive! - Lafayette, Friday evenings
Celebration of the Giant Omelet - Abbeville, 1st Sunday
Acadiana Culinary Classic - Lafayette, first weekend,
The Great Chili Challenge - New Iberia, 2nd Saturday
DECEMBER:
A Cajun & Creole Christmas - Lafayette & surrounding parishes, all
month
Noel Acadian au Village - Lafayette, Acadian Village, December 1st until
Christmas Eve
Les Chandelles de Noel - Lafayette, Vermillionville
Festival of Lights - Lafayette, Oil Center, 1st Friday
Cajun Christmas Bayou Parade Breaux Bridge - 1st full weekend
Iberia Parish Christmas Trail Iberia Parish Area / New Iberia - month-long
Les Lumieres du Village d'Abbeville Abbeville - Starts Friday after
Thanksgiving
St. Lucy Festival of Lights - St. Martinville, Sunday before Dec. 13
Festival of Grand Coteau - Grand Coteau
Heart of Louisiana Trail of Lights - Lafayette, Abbeville, Natchitoches
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