Louisiana Outdoors A to Z For more crawfish fun, drive on over to Shreveport’s Mudbug Madness Festival. With Cajun, zydeco, blues and jazz bands and more crawfish than you can possibly eat, it’s no wonder why this four-day festival held over Memorial Day weekend is nationally recognized. Expand your palate to include all forms of seafood at the Louisiana Seafood Festival in New Orleans (September). Tour the beautiful grounds of New Orleans City Park while taste-testing alligator, fish, crab, shrimp, crawfish and oysters and other local delicacies. Complete with celebrity chefs, a beer garden and an arts village, the festival emphasizes the seafood that flourishes in Louisiana and the countless baked, fried, boiled and grilled ways to enjoy it. Boudin—Louisiana’s signature sausage made from cooked rice, pork, onions, green peppers and seasonings—reigns supreme at the Scott Boudin Festival (April). Touted as “Where the West Begins and Hospitality Never Ends,” the town of Scott rolls out the red carpet in this family-friendly event celebrating one of Cajun culture’s tastiest contributions. In downtown Crowley, the International Rice Festival (October) holds the title of Louisiana's largest and oldest agricultural festival. With parades and events such as rice cooking and eating contests, and fiddle and accordion contests, this party reveres one of the state’s top cash crops. n PHOTOS: (CLOCKWISE FROM OPPOSITE PAGE) Contraband Days parade ©Lake Charles CVB; Louisiana Seafood Festival ©Ipung Zan photography ; Dragon Boat Racing – courtesy GWN International Dragon Boat ; Partying on Bayou St. John ©Mid-City Bayou Boogaloo; Voice of the Wetlands All Stars ©Takahiro Kyono; Mudbug Madness Festival ©Shreveport-Bossier CTB Louisiana has festivals to suit every taste, every month of the year. Visit LouisianaTravel.com/ festivals for a list of events throughout the state. http://LouisianaTravel.com 21
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