Music, Food & Culture Mix Like Creole In This Spicy City
Two hours west of the Big Easy is a place you can take it easy.
But not too easy, for this is Louisiana.
Lafayette is a city along the Vermilion River that has elements of its wild neighbor New Orleans, but in a more compact setting.
There’s Cajun food tours, bars, local brew pubs, a distillery and it even has an official cocktail, the Sweet Crude Rouler that’s made with a small-batch white rum from Rank Wildcat Spirits in Lafayette Parrish, sweet and sour, simple syrup, bitters and club soda.
And there’s music, as there is everywhere in Louisiana, in its bars and at its year-round festivals as well as at three concert series events in the Spring and Fall:
• Back Lunch, Fridays at lunchtime
• Downtown Alive!, Friday evenings
• Rhythms On The River, on Thursday evenings
And of course, enough local Creole food at those bars, in restaurants and at the festivals featuring fresh gulf seafood with a Cajun spice to make one’s stomach “blow up like a blimp,” as Jimmy Buffett sings about in “I Will Play For Gumbo.”
As far as the festivals, there’s several of them:
• Mardi Gras Season
• Festival International (April 26-30 in 2017 and April 25-29 in 2018)
• The Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival, the first weekend in May
• The Zydeco Festival, the weekend before Labor Day
• Festival Acadiens et Creoles: the second full weeks of October
• Cajun & Creole Christmas in November and December
Lafayette is also home to TABSCO Sauce, which offers tours of its factory, making Lafayette truly a “spicy” city. And it’s a great place to get out in the wilderness (but not out of the boat!) for swamp tours. As well being the home of the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns.
So when you’re in the area, or if you want a little taste of New Orleans (in every sense of the word) without getting “trapped” on Bourbon Street, then check out life in Lafayette.
In the meantime, enjoy the music of the area by playing the YouTube video in this article from Grammy award nominees from Louisiana, who performed in Los Angeles the day before the 2017 Grammys.
Link: Lafayette Louisiana Tourism
What a great comment. Thanks so much for your insight and enthusiasm about your native city! — PubClub.com
I was born and raised here in Lafayette, but moved just after high school to live in Illinois for most of my 20’s. I came back home at 27 and fell in love with my culture. Being away from home for so long caused me to do things as a tourist. I didn’t want to miss a thing. The free concerts, the local musicians, the food, the everything was awesome. I’ll never forget walking up to a Keith Frank concert around 6 or 630 on a Friday and seeing a guy in his work boots and work clothes dancing his tale off with the biggest smile. The love of food and a good time is not missing in this town. Come out and enjoy, you won’t regret it!