NOCCA Student Wins 2026 Rau for Art Italy Trip
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Gracie Eckstein, an 11th-grade student at the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA), was chosen as the winner of the 2026 Rau…
Author: Ashley Bravata
Northshore Summer Guide: Quick Getaway Unpacked
NORTHSHORE, La. (press release) – Visit the Northshore shares that the Northshore is known as Louisiana’s easy escape. Just 40 minutes north of New Orleans, halfway between Baton Rouge and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, it is a quick escape. And…
Restore Grand Isle Purchased Historic Oleander Hotel
GRAND ISLE, La. (press release) — Restore Grand Isle officially purchased the historic Oleander Hotel from the Augustin family on Thursday, May 21, during a closing held at Grand Isle Town Hall, securing the future of one of the island’s…
Episode 246: An Author's Fictional Take on the Acadian Great Upheaval
In the mid-1700's, the Acadian people had been settled in the Nova Scotia region of Canada for over 100 years. When the area was transferred to the British, it was encouraged that the Acadian people take an oath of allegiance…
June Festivals in Louisiana
Louisiana is a state filled with many amazing things: music, food, diverse heritage, fishing, hunting, festivals and more. While there are many resources for most of the Louisiana treasures–food influencers, magazines like ours, cultural centers and museums, wildlife and fisheries–there…
New Community Coffee Flavors Released
BATON ROUGE (press release) – New Community Coffee flavors were added to the brand's core, permanent lineup: Chocolate Lava Cake and Cinnamon Roll. Available now, organizers share that both flavors deliver a sweet, indulgent coffee experience, with no added sugar or sweeteners.…
Baton Rouge Soul Food Festival Lineup, Contests and Sponsors
BATON ROUGE (press release) – The 9th Annual Baton Rouge Soul Food Festival announced the talent lineup, contests and sponsors for the upcoming festival, May 23-24 at the East Baton Rouge Parish Library (Main Library, 7711 Goodwood Blvd.) From 11…
LWF Opposes Transfer of Kisatchie National Forest Land
On May 14, the Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF) released an action alert, a briefing and an official statement in response to a new proposed tax policy for Grant Parish that would affect Kisatchie National Forest, Louisiana's only national forest. The…
Episode 245: Pontchartrain Conservancy is Making Sure the Community is Ready for Hurricane Season
Hurricane season for the gulf coast begins June 1. Each year, Pontchartrain conservancy – the nonprofit dedicated to creating an environmentally sustainable, prosperous and resilient region – host their storm aware and prepare event. This even is meant to provide…
Louisiana's Most-Wishlisted Airbnb Isn’t Where You'd Expect
Louisiana is a diverse state with a range of terrain and communities. You can live in Louisiana and reside on a farm acres-wide, a bayou accessible only by boat, a French Quarter corner in a 500 sq ft studio apartment,…
"God of Carnage" Lives Up to Its Name at Le Petit Theatre
It is with good reason that Yasmina Reza’s "God of Carnage" was an international hit the moment it was first performed on the French stage in 2006. The dark comedy quickly went global when Christopher Hampton’s translated adaptation took the…
Lafayette Tourism Tent at Upcoming Festival in France
LAFAYETTE, La. (press release) – Lafayette’s music, food, tourism and French heritage will take stage this summer in Brittany, France, with a new Lafayette tourism tent planned for the upcoming Festival Interceltique de Lorient, one of France’s largest urban festivals,…
Celebrate National Shrimp Day: 11 Shrimp Recipes
If you need a break from the abundance of crawfish in your life, or just an excuse to make a delicious shrimp dish, the perfect day for you is coming. May 10 is National Shrimp Day. I’m not sure how…
Is Louisiana Trending? Sea Level, SpaceX and More
Louisianians have a strong love for their state, but that love isn’t blind – well, not fully. We often rank the worst in national lists on topics like health and crime. And even though most of us are aware of the…
Louisiana Gained 11 New Millionaires on April 29 Powerball
BATON ROUGE (press release) – Louisiana made history on April 29 with one of the most remarkable Powerball drawings the state has ever seen. Eleven Louisiana Powerball players became millionaires in a single drawing, combining for $16 million in total…
Lake Isabel Farm Open for 2026 Season with New Amenities
BOGALUSA, La. (press release) — Lake Isabel Farm reopened on Friday, April 24, welcoming guests to its clear blue lake, white sand beaches and unique natural setting in Washington Parish. Following its inaugural 2025 season that drew more than 3,000…
The Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival Returns for 2026
JEAN LAFITTE, La. (press release) – The Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival returns May 29-31, offering a celebration that combines Louisiana seafood, live music and immersive bayou experiences all in one place. The festival captures the culture, environment and spirit of…
Editor's Note: Oh, the places to go
I love reading bucket lists. Even if I’m not able to check off every item on one, it’s fun to get ideas for places I would’ve never imagined. But if you don’t know, you can’t go, so it’s worthwhile to…
Where the Wild Once Was
The books precede her. In her hands, they teeter, a miniscule leaning library of Pisa. Entering the Visitor Center at Audubon State Historic Site, six miles east of St. Francisville, Ann Reiley Jones stops to banter with the staff before…
Take 20: A Bucket List for Louisiana
1 | Take a Swamp Tour It’s so easy to enjoy the vast swamps and marshes of Louisiana, whether by a speedy airboat or something slow and nature-oriented. Swamp tours are available in the Atchafalaya Basin, Lake Martin near Lafayette…
Preserve & Conserve
There is no end to the food creativity of the people of Louisiana. We have tried to find ways to eat just about everything. There was even a campaign, albeit unsuccessful, in the early part of the century to encourage…
Advertise - Best Hospitals and Top Orthopedic Doctors
In the July/August issue, Louisiana Life will showcase the best hospitals in the state (based on Medicare ratings). Showcase yourself or your practice as a leading doctor. Louisiana Life is a statewide magazine with an audience over 300,000 across our…
Pressing Matters
There’s laughter on the count-in but heartbreak in the beat, and as a deep, sliding guitar snakes beneath the start of Maggie Koerner’s fourth album “Upstate,” her voice tumbles and pierces. It’s a sound raw and close, and it’s the…
Photo Contest: Standing on the Edge
Efforts are underway to preserve the Tchefuncte Lighthouse, a nearly 200-year-old landmark now facing the threat of slow, steady loss of the land beneath it.
Reality with a Twist
If you are a fan of Vincent van Gogh, Edward Hopper, Salvador Dalí or Sandro Botticelli, you certainly will take to Pineville artist Matt Dawson’s faintly familiar interpretations of these masters with his own visual twists and humor. Dawson, a…
Changing Lives
Anatomy of an Alibi “Anatomy of an Alibi” has a classic Hitchcockian premise: Camille Bayliss and Aubrey Price come from completely different worlds, but they both believe the same man hold secrets that could irrevocably change their lives: Ben, Camille’s…
A Leap Back in Time
Prehistoric Park, Louisiana’s sole immersive dinosaur adventure, was recently transformed. Guests walking the trails will encounter 24 towering new dinosaurs tucked into the landscape. Five are fully robotic, with lifelike movements and sounds, including the must-see 40-foot Tyrannosaurus Rex with…
Living History
Wandering through Maison Olivier, the circa 1815 Raised Creole Cottage-style plantation house at the Longfellow-Evangeline State Historical Site, it’s easy to get the feeling you might bump into a member of the Olivier family. The home is decorated and staged…
Cutting Edge
Sometimes things just fall into place. Call it kismet, call it cosmic harmony, but whatever invisible force exists that brings people together in the right configuration at the right time knew what it was doing when it put the members…
What Are We Reading this Year?
May - June Melanie Warner Spencer The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. It’s a gorgeously written epistolary novel centered on a 70-year-old retired lawyer who does not suffer fools. Confession: I cried at the end. John Kemp Mark Twain by Ron…
Hope Out of Darkness
Reviewing “Twelve Years a Slave,” Solomon Northup’s 1853…
A Quieter Beach
Dauphin Island lies only 3 miles south of Mobile Bay and a short drive from downtown Mobile. It’s an even shorter jaunt from the exquisite Bellingrath Gardens and its dramatic flowering gardens. Yet, the 14-mile-long barrier island with its small-town…
Southern Summer Travel
Summer is here, and the world is your oyster. Find yourself a cozy hamlet, a new favorite restaurant, or a destination with memories that will last forever with these Southern Summer Travel locales. Lafayette CVC Summer in Lafayette offers a…
Peggy Martin Rose Named as Official Plaquemines Parish Flower
PLAQUEMINES PARISH, La. (press release) – On April 9, the Plaquemines Parish Council officially designated the Peggy Martin Rose as the Official Flower of Plaquemines Parish, recognizing its historical significance and powerful symbolism of resilience, endurance and renewal. “The Peggy Martin Rose represents…
Gonzales Magnolia Market Returns to Lamar-Dixon Expo Center
GONZALES, La. (press release) – ATT Expo Market announced the return of its Gonzales Magnolia Market show at the Lamar-Dixon Expo Center, with Mother’s Day, Graduations, Father’s Day and summer weddings all approaching. The third annual family-friendly spring market takes…
Ragged Branch Risen Star Reserve Honors Louisiana Horse
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (press release) – Ragged Branch Distillery, located in Augusta County, Virginia, announced an exclusive special-edition release of Ragged Branch Risen Star Reserve Straight Bourbon Whiskey in Louisiana. Organizers share that the release commemorates the thrilling and historic 1988…
Last Night at the Rue Bayou is Just Beginning
“This is an original show—I’ve never done anything like it before,” said Deri’Andre Tucker, who plays cocktail server La Fonda in “Last Night at the Rue Bayou.” “It has a mythical feel to it.” As the French Quarter fills music…
May Festivals in Louisiana
Louisiana is a state filled with many amazing things: music, food, diverse heritage, fishing, hunting, festivals and more. While there are many resources for most of the Louisiana treasures–food influencers, magazines like ours, cultural centers and museums, wildlife and fisheries–there…
Exclusive Kenny Chesney No Shoes Nation Radio Concert
While thousands of music fans flooded New Orleans for the annual French Quarter Festival on Saturday, April 18, a few hundred Gulf and Western music fans stormed a rambling roadhouse straddling…
Ochsner Eat Fit App Available at Festival International de Louisiane
LAFAYETTE, La. (press release) – During the Festival International de Louisiane's 40th anniversary, Ochsner Eat Fit is partnering with the festival’s food vendors for the first time to highlight Eat Fit-approved dishes and…
22nd Annual Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival in Belle Chasse
BELLE CHASSE, La. (press release) – The 22nd Annual Plaquemines Parish Seafood Festival will take place April 24-26, bringing a celebration of local seafood, culture and community to the festival grounds at 333 F. Edward Hebert Blvd. in Belle Chasse.…
Henry VIII's "Six" Wives Dazzle the Saenger Theatre
With a minimalist set accented by a modernist neon nod to Gothic-style architecture and rock-n-roll costumes, the show "Six" is presented uniquely as…
LWF Joins Lawsuit Against Endangered Species Committee
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – On behalf of the National Wildlife Federation, National Parks Conservation Association, Louisiana Wildlife Federation (LWF), Florida Wildlife Federation and Texas Conservation Alliance, the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) filed a lawsuit to stop an attempt…
New Baton Rouge Sports Illustrated Resort Will Open Near LSU
ORLANDO, Fla. (press release) – Travel + Leisure Co., a leading leisure travel company, announced plans today for a new Baton Rouge Sports Illustrated Resort. What is a Sports Illustrated Resort? Sports Illustrated Resorts is an experiential hospitality brand designed…
Landry Vineyards 5k Wine Run + Live Music Saturdays
WEST MONROE, La. – The Landry Vineyards 5k Wine Run, offering wine, live music and more, takes place Saturday, April 18, at 1 p.m. The race, open to all ages and skill levels, offers a scenic course through the vineyard.…
Tickets Nearly Sold Out for 60th Angola Prison Rodeo
BATON ROUGE (press release) – The Louisiana Department of Public Safety and Corrections welcomes the public to attend the 60th Angola Prison Rodeo, scheduled for April 18 and 19, 2026, at the Louisiana State…
2026 Saints Draft Crawfish Cook-Off with Cox at Ochsner Sports
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – The New Orleans Saints will co-host the 2026 Saints Draft Crawfish Cook-off on Saturday, April 25, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center (5800 Airline Drive, Metairie, La.) with Cox.…
Louisiana's Michoud Facility Powers NASA's Artemis Moon Mission
NEW ORLEANS (press release) – Nearly 90 percent of the rocket powering the Artemis Moon Mission was manufactured at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The Space Launch System rocket for the Artemis II Moon Mission is the most powerful…
What is Louisiana FastSites? 19 Sites for Inaugural Round
BATON ROUGE (press release) — Louisiana Economic Development unveiled 19 sites spanning 16 parishes moving forward in the inaugural Louisiana FastSites round, marking the largest coordinated site investment effort in state history and redefining how Louisiana competes for high-impact, nationally…
The Secret Life of Shelby Stanga Told in "Shelby" Documentary
Louisiana covets its fair share of mysteries across its three million acres of wetlands; fragments of cultures thought forgotten, treasures left to fester in a swamp water grave, and people for whom the cool embrace of the bayou is home.…
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