Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival
Shrimp & Petroleum – (and Other Unique Things on the Cajun Coast!)
Shrimp and petroleum are generally not uttered in the same sentence, but the Cajuns of South Louisiana are used to doing things a little differently than the rest of the world. Beginning more than 80 years ago as a blessing of the shrimp harvest and a celebration of the many who labored in the deep Gulf waters, it is considered the oldest harvest festival in the state. The addition of the petroleum industry in 1967, to also honor this important industry, made it the huge celebration it has become today. The 82nd Annual Shrimp & Petroleum Festival, Labor Day weekend, will be a 5-day extravaganza paying tribute to both of these time-honored industries, shrimp and petroleum. It will feature great food, continuous, free live music, arts & crafts, children’s activities, and traditional events, such as the blessing of the fleet and boat parade.
In addition to the unique name, the unique Cajun culture on the Cajun Coast is celebrated at the festival. The Annual Cajun Culinary Classic showcases local “home style” cooking featuring delicious Cajun and Creole dishes as well as a variety of desserts and other cuisines. Artists and crafters from south Louisiana will showcase their unique merchandise and artistic masterpieces. And a street parade, water parade with blessing of the fleet, and fireworks on the Atchafalaya River, truly mark the joie de vivre, joy of living, so prominent in the Cajun way of life.
And no festival in Louisiana is complete without good music! The music line-up is long-anticipated, featuring local headliners such as Krossfyre, Waylon Thibodeaux, Jus Cuz, Cliff Hillebran, TK Hulin, South 70 and this year’s local winner of the KQKI Country Showdown, Mamie Winters. The Gospel Stage also heats up the crowd on Saturday and Sunday!
The blessing of the fleet is a special part of the festival, and giving thanks for the harvest begins with Mass in the Park under the oaks in Lawrence Park on Sunday. After the water blessings from the Morgan City docks and celebrations on the Atchafalaya River, a Certificate of Blessing and a prayer card of St. Brendan the Navigator, patron Saint of Seafarers is presented to each participant.
The Shrimp & Petroleum Festival has been honored as a Div III Festival of the Year for the past ten years by the Louisiana Fairs & Festivals Association, a Top 100 American Bus Association event and a top 20 Southeast Tourism Society event. It was even noted by Time magazine as “…the best, the most unusual, the most down-home, the most moving and the most fun that the country has to offer
Dining on the Cajun Coast
Laid back foodies, you have found your vacation paradise on the Cajun Coast!
Louisiana is known far and wide for its cuisine, and for those who have a food obsession, or at least let their tastebuds choose the next travel destination, the Cajun Coast should be on your list. Some areas are known for their upscale, haute cuisine, and we do have a few white linen places in our midst, but the Cajun Coast is more known for unpretentious fare, specializing in the freshest seafood, straight from the Gulf and mouth-watering ways to serve it up – in étouffée, sauce piquant, blackened or just grilled to perfection with fresh herbs grown on-site. Even our upscale locales serve comfort food like a gumbo perfected in mama’s cast iron pot.
Several of our festivals even celebrate food! The upcoming Bayou BBQ Bash is the perfect example. While July 4 is a pretty big deal and backyard barbecues are alight all over the country, combining Louisiana’s love of cooking and BBQ, equals some fires a couple weeks after the 4th that are pretty spectacular! The 6th Annual Bayou BBQ Bash will be held July 14-15, rain or shine, under the U.S. 90 Bridge in downtown Morgan City. The event is a Barbecue Competitor Alliance competition along with a Corporate Cooking Team throw down as well.
There is not only much barbecue available for the tasting, but other festival fare, as well live music (and Country Music Showdown), and arts & crafts. Check out the events section of Cajun Coast.com for more information, and you can sign up to compete until July 5 or judge for yourself who you think should bring home the bling as the BBQ Champion. Registration is open until June 30 for the Country Music Showdown as well in America’s #1 Country Music Talent Search!
Continue to satisfy your barbecue cravings or switch gears for different offerings. Our cuisine runs the gamut from Cajun to Asian, Steak to Soul Food, and Barbecue to Pizza Perfection. Check out the dining options and plan the menu for your visit. As the saying goes, in most places, you eat to live, in Louisiana, we live to eat!
Great Outdoors & Mama (Gator)
Some mamas love the outdoors – especially Mama Cayenne. With approximately as much waterways as land, the Cajun Coast is home to remarkable eco-systems not found in any other state. With 14 paddling trails, 3 designated wildlife areas, birding trails, biking routes, swamp tours, and several parks and campgrounds, it is easy to be at home with nature here. Even our Visitor Center in Morgan City is located on a swampland where visitors can visit fierce Mama Gator Cayenne and Paprika. And even download a Mother’s Day Card from Our Mama to Yours!
A Basin in Your Backyard
The Cajun Coast is in the gateway to the Atchafalaya (ah-CHA-fa-LIE-ah) Basin, the largest wetland and swamp in the country with 800,000 acres of pristine beauty. The Atchafalaya National Heritage Area was designated by Congress as an area of significant, natural, scenic, cultural, historical and recreational resources, and this untainted treasure beckons to be traveled.
Paddle Like a Pro 
With all of our waterways, we developed paddling trails for kayaks and canoes to help you navigate like a pro. Many of these trails traverse the Bayou Teche, named to the National Water Trails System as an exemplary waterway. The trails are noted in terms of difficulty, so even the novice paddler can explore.
Wildlife Watching
The Attakapas Wildlife Management Area features nearly 30,000 acres of swamp and bottomland forest. Accessible only by boat, primitive camping is available.
The Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge and Boardwalk allows you to stroll into the refuge, noted as a habitat for the Louisiana Black Bear and other Louisiana coastal wildlife. Fishing, hiking, boating, canoeing, and kayaking are other options on the refuge.
The Atchafalaya Delta Wildlife Management Area is an active delta and freshwater marsh habitat. Accessible only by boat, boating, fishing, hunting and birding are available.
Scenic Beauty 
Even driving takes you close to nature in the Cajun Coast. The Bayou Teche Scenic Byway winds its way through the area, around Bayou Teche, making its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Aside from the sheer beauty of the land, you’ll see moss-draped live oak trees along the banks of the Bayou Teche to more than 100 historic properties, many on the National Register of Historic Places.
With so many options to get outside on the Cajun Coast, grab your gear and get on the road!
Unusual Spring Festivals
Unusual Spring Festivals – You’ve got to admit, an area that celebrates shrimp & petroleum in the same festival, has some work to do to top the distinctive festival list, but we have some interesting festivals in the spring that you’ll want celebrate a little differently. See our calendar for the full line-up.
Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Festival
Celebrating the craftsmanship and long history of vessels made of wood, this festival for wooden boat enthusiasts takes place along the beautiful Bayou Teche in downtown Franklin in late April. The event includes antique and modern vessels, from small pirogues to larger craft.
See more on the Bayou Teche Wooden Boat Festival.
Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival
Also held in downtown Franklin, this celebration of Louisiana’s Black Bear features educational components along with Louisiana music and festival fare. The Louisiana Black Bear is on the threatened species list, but activities such as this one, highlighting the area’s natural resources and the recent establishment of the Bayou Teche National Wildlife Refuge, help foster a respect for local wildlife. Find out more about the Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival.
Cypress Sawmill Festival
While the event has been postponed for the spring, the festival in Patterson pays tribute to the cypress timber industry once one of the largest in the nation due to the expansive cypress stands found within the vast swamplands. The history of this industry is displayed at the Louisiana State Museum’s Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum in Patterson. Find out more at the Wedell-Williams Aviation and Cypress Sawmill Museum.
Cast Iron Cookoff
And, Cast Iron Cookoffs are not unusual in the South, but in South Louisiana, those pots are likely full of the most amazing concoctions, like étouffée, jambalaya, or sauce piquant. Find out more and whet your appetite for more at the Cast Iron Cookoff!
So, prepare for the usual festival fun and a little bit of extra, we call lagniappe, at festivals along the Cajun Coast this spring.
Celebrate Culture & History on the Cajun Coast
St. Patrick’s Day celebrations on the Cajun Coast feature more than just parades in an area known historically for the Civil War Battle of Irish Bend and settlers of many different cultures, including Irish, English, Italian, French, German, Danish, and Native American. Check the history and heritage of this area as well as our Civil War history for itinerary suggestions.
There is, indeed, an Irish-Italian Parade, Saturday, March 18, with the Krewe of Dionysus combining St. Patrick’s and St. Joseph’s Day celebrations. Click here for more information and a parade route.
Festivities continue post-parade, March 18, with the Basin Brewfest & Restaurant Crawl, from 1:30-7:30 at Front Street under the Highway 90 Bridge. Bringing together the best in Louisiana craft beer and Morgan City restaurant favorites, with live music from Coda & Driftwood, the party promises to be a foodies’ delight. For information and tickets, click here.
Then options abound for the evening, with family friendly and grown-up options, from movies in the park to Disco Explosion at Cypress Bayou Casino Hotel. Check the calendar of events for your favorite, and make your plans now.
And spring is a time to get outdoors on the Cajun Coast. Options abound with paddling trails, historic attractions, golf, fishing, and traveling along our trails and byways.
Making the Most of the Coast
Ah, Summer, and the Livin’ Is Easy.
Being on the water, whether on a peaceful inlet bayou or the deep blue seas of the Gulf, is a perennial summer pastime. With the sunlight reflecting off the water, the cares of normal 9-to-5 living slip into the rhythm of the lapping waves.
And, it only makes sense that water sports would play into the mandatory right of being on the water during the summer. Swimming, water skiing, kayaking, canoeing, boating, and fishing are the most common water activities, but swamp tours, birding, and even trips to the wildlife areas, only accessible by boat are also popular. Check out the activities section for options.
There are 27 public boat launches in which to set out into the Atchafalaya Basin or the navigable criss-cross of waterways taking you through brackish bayous and marsh into the Gulf of Mexico. That should tell you something about our relationship with water on the Cajun Coast. That easy, slip-into-summer mindset, is a way of life on the coast. It’s no wonder the people are so friendly.
Of course, not all that water activity is slow-paced, quiet idling time. Summer holds a speed-racing event that could literally blow someone out the water! The Morgan City Volunteer Fire Department will host The Battle on the Basin, Drag Boat Races by the Deep South Racing Association on June 24-25 at Russo’s Boat Landing in Morgan City. It is a fun, family-friendly event with food and drink booths and plenty of excitement, with boats exceeding 100 miles per hour! Get more info.
Even if you don’t plan on going that fast, there is still plenty of excitement on the water during the summer. Pulling in a swordfish or giant tuna, even huge snappers, speckled trout or redfish makes your day, if not your muscles happy! If you didn’t haul your own craft, there are boats for rent, some complete with charter captains, like Blu Rebel Charters. You can even stay on the water, if you are so inclined. Not only do many of the parks and campgrounds have cabins or sites right on the water, several with their own boat launches, but also you can even rent a house boat! Check out the fishing page for more specifics.
The coast is calling you with a summer siren song – Come visit the Cajun Coast.