A Guide to Spring Festivals in Louisiana

Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival

March 26-30  //  New Orleans  //  tennesseewilliams.net

When a young Tennessee Williams arrived in New Orleans, the Mississippi native wrote that he had found his special place.

“In New Orleans … I found the kind of freedom I had always needed, and the shock of it — against the Puritanism of my nature — has given me a subject, a theme, which I have never ceased exploiting.”

To honor the famed playwright, embrace the city’s literary heritage and encourage other young writers to hone their craft is the annual Tennessee Williams & New Orleans Literary Festival. Like Festival International, the festival began in 1987 and in 2025 celebrates 39 years of bringing award-winning writers, historians and scholars, cultural experts, musicians and actors from Williams’ adaptations or who will perform during the festival’s five days in New Orleans.

Lovers of Williams and literature in general will revel in the wide lineup of authors, including Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott, Alafair Burke, Margot Douaihy, Laura Lippman, Bernice McFadden and Kalamu ya Salaam. NPR book critic Maureen Corrigan makes an appearance, and special events include Poppy Tooker’s Drag Queen Brunch, a culinary experience with Chef Eric Cook, Books and Beignets featuring Anne Rice’s “Interview with the Vampire” and the Tennessee Williams Theatre Company of New Orleans’ production of “Orpheus Descending.” There will be music, culinary and cocktail events, theatre performances and much more.

And then there’s the annual Stella Shouting Contest that kicks off the festival, where contestants portray Stanley Kowalski yelling up to his wife Stella in the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Most people remember the iconic scene performed by Marlon Brando in the film adaptation.

Vicki Nesting, retired librarian of the St. Charles Parish Library, calls TWFest “a book lover’s heaven” and particularly enjoyed meeting like-minded literary enthusiasts.

“I loved having the opportunity to meet and talk with authors in such a small, convivial setting,” Nesting said. “The TWNOLF drew literary fans from across the country. I remember meeting a teacher from the West Coast who came every year. We became friends and corresponded.”

The organization also hosts the annual Saints & Sinners LGBTQ+ Literary Festival the same weekend as TWFest and now includes The Last Bohemia as part of its theatre programming.

Don’t Miss

One of the highlights of the festival is the literary walking tour of the French Quarter, pausing at sites where Williams lived, worked and played, including the house at 632 St. Peter St. where Williams completed his Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “A Streetcar Named Desire.”

Tips

Parking on French Quarter streets is always tricky, so use a parking lot.

Isleños Fiesta

March 15-16  //  Chalmette  //  losislenos.org

After the French lost the French and Indian War in the mid-1700s, the Louisiana colony west of the Mississippi River and the “Isle of Orleans,” or New Orleans, was ceded to Spain while the former French territory east of the river was acquired by Great Britain. The Spanish government worried that the British might take over Louisiana so recruited thousands of Canary Islanders off the African coast between 1777 and 1782. Known as Isleños, these colonists settled along Bayou Terre-aux-Boeufs in St. Bernard Parish and in Ascension Parish where they later moved into what is now known as Spanish Town of Baton Rouge.

New Orleans-area Isleños descendants promote their history and heritage at the El Museo de Los Isleños, or the Los Isleños Museum on Bayou Road in St. Bernard. And every year the Los Isleños Heritage and Cultural Society celebrates the Isleños’ unique culture and heritage with an annual festival that dates back three decades. The Fiesta de Los Isleños includes dancing, food, art traditions and more.

Don’t miss

The museum complex is situated on 22 acres and includes nine historic buildings to tour, plus a Houma Native American interpretive area, homage to the Filipino settlement of Saint Maló and a nature trail.

Tips

Parking isn’t permitted on museum grounds but visitors may take the shuttle to the Fiesta from the parking lot at the Gauthier Elementary School on the Judge Perez Extension.

Iowa Rabbit Festival

March 20-22  //  Lake Charles  //  iowarabbitfestival.com

This hopping-good-time festival began in 1986 to promote a rabbit processing plant and a variety of rabbit breeders in Iowa, a small town located off Interstate 10 in Calcasieu Parish. It wasn’t a harebrained idea. Like many fêtes in Louisiana, it’s grown over the years and now attracts about 20,000 visitors over the festival weekend.

In addition to live music, carnival rides, pageants and, naturally, a wide variety of rabbit culinary offerings, the festival raises funds for civic, fraternal and school organizations, including college scholarships for high school seniors.

Iowa, Louisiana, by the way, is pronounced I-O-Way.

Don’t Miss

The Iowa Rabbit Festival Rabbit Cook-Off on Saturday, where chefs vie for awards and demonstrate their techniques, allows visitors to sample the different variations of rabbit dishes.

Tips

Thursday is free admission.

Amite Oyster Festival

March 14-16  //  Amite  //  amiteoysterfestival.com

Folks in Amite City of Tangipahoa Parish have been having a shuckin’ good time since 1976, when residents first celebrated the town’s oyster fishermen, oyster processing plants and, naturally, all those wonderful oysters and associated dishes at the Tangipahoa Parish Fair Grounds.

The Amite Oyster Festival, now held in downtown Amite, culminates the third weekend in March and includes live music, carnival rides, family activities, pageantry and plenty of oysters. We say culminates because there are several activities associated with oysters held throughout March, such as the Oyster Gala on March 1 and the Oyster Brunch and Fashion Show on March 8.

The goals of the modern festival are not only to honor and raise awareness about the Louisiana oyster industry but to promote coastal preservation as well.

Don’t Miss

Learn about the Sicilians who settled the area at the turn of the 20th century.

Tips

Local restaurants will have food booths serving up their specialties.

Books Along the Teche Literary Festival

April 4-6  //  New Iberia  //  booksalongthetecheliteraryfestival.com

This New Iberia literary festival may be the baby of the bunch, started only nine years ago as a way to promote local and national authors, educate those who wish to become writers and as an excuse to showcase the many places famed mystery author James Lee Burke frequented in his days in New Iberia. But there’s so much more.

The ninth annual festival will include a Cajun fais do do, a “Symphony in the Park, children’s activities, book fair, jazz opening reception and the Great Southern Writer Symposium and Book Signing with Mary Kay Andrews at the Sliman Theatre. Andrews is the New York Times bestselling author with more than 30 novels published. This author will be discussing travel writing on Friday.

Don’t Miss

Dave’s Haunts and Jaunts Mystery Bus Tour will take visitors places made famous by Dave Robicheaux and Clete Purcel, characters in Burke’s many novels. 

Tips

Since you’re in the area, now may be one of those times to visit nearby Avery Island and the Tabasco factory.

Festival International de Louisiane

April 23-27  //  Lafayette//  festivalinternational.org

The idea for an international event welcoming bands and artists from around the world birthed the inaugural Festival International de Louisiane in 1987. The popular festival has grown exponentially since then — around 300,000 last year — and has become the largest international music festival in the country.

Best of all, it’s free.

The five-day Festival International celebrates its 39th year this April and in addition to international musical acts on several stages throughout downtown Lafayette, the festival assembles both local artists at Parc San Souci and international vendors at the world market. There are food vendors serving everything from crawfish to alligator, a 5K race, daily parades, French stilt walkers and more. On Saturday and Sunday, Scène des Jeunes (Children’s Stage) features an array of children’s activities in addition to performers at the Cathedral-Carmel School campus.

“The Festival’s great because it’s free and there are bands from everywhere in the world,” said Lafayette attorney Lisa Hanchey, a Festival regular. “You will hear bands and music that you’ve never heard in your entire life. Plus, there is amazing food from Cajun country and beyond. And the booths are placed all over so you don’t even have to walk very far if you don’t want to.”

This year’s “Official Visual Artist” is Patrick Henry, a Jamaican native now living and working in New Orleans. His original artwork will be on sale at the festival, including his 2025 poster and pins of which sales help support the festival.

Viewing areas at Festival stages and restrooms are handicapped accessible. Dogs, ice chests and tents are not allowed but lawn chairs, blankets and wagons are.

Don’t Miss

The French stilt walkers are the highlight of the daily parades.

Tips

If you can arrange to visit on the first three days, you’ll avoid crowds and be more likely to enjoy the Festival with locals who greet each other with “Happy Festival!” Daytime is best for families while nighttime performances tend to be large acts who attract crowds, many of which may get rowdy.

Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival

April 11-13  //  Ponchatoula  //  lastrawberryfestival.com

The Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival began in 1972 to honor the region’s strawberry farmers and has grown since then to become Louisiana’s largest free harvest festival.

The festival is held during the apex of strawberry harvest, which means visitors may enjoy their fill of the sweet fruit, whether in culinary offerings or flats to bring home. The annual event now in its 53rd year features live music, carnival rides, food contests, a parade and more starting on the second block of North Sixth Street and throughout Ponchatoula Memorial Park. Forty booths will be operated by local nonprofit organizations.

Don’t Miss

Skip the crowds and visit Ponchatoula on March 22 for the Julian Dufreche Strawberry Day in the Park. There will be a wing cook-off, car show, strawberry auction, dessert bake-off and car show.

Tips

Only clear backpacks — except for diaper bags — are allowed and visitors are subject to searches to keep the festival safe.

Melrose Arts & Crafts Festival

May 3-4   //  Natchitoches  //  melroseonthecane.com/festivals

There’s nothing like a spring day among Cane River just outside the quaint town of Natchitoches. Add a historic plantation with a unique artistic and racial history, plus a variety of talented artists and artisans and it’s the perfect outing.

The Annual Melrose Arts & Crafts Festival at Melrose Plantation off Louisiana Scenic Highway 484, hits 51 years in 2025, and the wide variety of arts and crafts vendors beneath ancient live oak trees is enough reason to visit. But there’s the National Historic Landmark home that dates to Marie Therese Coincoin, a free person of color in the early years of the Natchitoches Poste. The plantation changed hands over the years but one of its most famous residents was Clementine Hunter, who became famous for her folk paintings reflecting rural Louisiana life.

Don’t Miss

One of the home’s historic outbuildings is the historically unique African House, where Hunter worked. Upstairs visitors will find Hunter’s magnificent murals. Hunter’s home has been renovated and is now open for tours.

Tips

Nearby is the Cane River Creole National Historical Park, which offers several properties to tour, including Oakland Plantation with its numerous outbuildings and massive pecan and oak trees, the Gothic Revival-style Church of St. Anne and the Magnolia Plantation complex.

Louisiana Peach Festival

June 7  //  Ruston  //  lapeachfest.com

Louisiana celebrates its homegrown products with festivals and fairs — and has been doing so for almost a century. The Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival dates to 1936, the oldest chartered harvest festival in Louisiana. Coming in at second place is the International Rice Festival in Crowley, which turns 88 this year.

Another long-standing event that pay homage to a sweet North Louisiana fruit is the Louisiana Peach Festival in Ruston, which began in 1951 as a way for area peach farmers to promote their industry. And it’s a tasty one. Louisiana produces millions of pounds of peaches each year that are a vital part of Ruston economy.

This year, Ruston celebrates its honored peaches with the 75th anniversary of the Louisiana Peach Festival.

The event has evolved since its inception and recently moved from a two-day carnival-style festival to a one-day fête after the Ruston Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city of Ruston and Downtown Ruston took over its organization in 2021. The goals were to focus more on local artists and musicians and to make the festival free within five years.

“We scaled it back so we can build it back,” said Tori Davis, director of marketing and communications for Experience Ruston. “It’s a way to give back to the community and showcase our artists and talent.”

The first year of the one-day event saw 16,000 visitors. Last year, that number rose to 27,000. And now that festival organizers have built up a nest egg, this year’s diamond anniversary festival will be free, Davis said.

Although the event is one day on June 7, the week leading up to the festival includes a Peach Culinary Crawl where restaurants serve peach-inspired dishes, cooking and baby photo contests, a 5K and a Peach Hunt, where organizers release clues and participants search through the town to win prizes.

“It’s a local thing that’s fun,” Davis said of the scavenger hunt. “Gets a little wild.”

Festival day includes 12 hours of live music on the downtown Railroad Park Stage, a parade, arts and crafts and, of course, lots of those delicious sweet peaches and peach dishes. Interactive performers and games will be offered at the free Kids Alley throughout the day.

Don’t Miss

The festival serves up delish peach ice cream!

Tips

For those who want to see peaches growing on the tree, Mitcham Farms, the largest of the peach producers in the area, offers tours.

Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival

May 2-4  //  Breaux Bridge  //  bbcrawfest.com

In 1959, the Louisiana Legislature named Breaux Bridge the Crawfish Capital of the World so naturally a festival was in order, especially since that year’s Breaux Bridge Centennial Celebration attracted thousands. In other words, if crawfish is on the menu, it’s a given that Louisiana will respond.

Today, thousands still flock to Breaux Bridge to sample our state’s official crustacean, plus listen to numerous Cajun and zydeco bands on three stages, take Cajun and zydeco dance lessons, watch crawfish compete in a race (yes, it’s a thing) and witness participants receive bragging rights on who can eat crawfish the fastest. There are cook-offs, too!

Since attendance has soared since those early days, the festival now takes place over three days at Parc Hardy.

Don’t Miss: The parade with floats, marching bands and the Crawfish Queen rolls down Bridge Street to Rees Street to Parc Hardy.

Tips: Only clear bags are allowed inside festival grounds.

Mudbug Madness Festival

May 24-26  //  Shreveport  //  mudbugmadness.com

It all began in the mid-’80s as a two-day festival over Memorial Day Weekend in downtown Shreveport. Last year, the Mudbug Madness Festival celebrated its 40th birthday and is now one of Louisiana’s largest festivals offering Cajun, zydeco, blues and jazz artists on two stages at Festival Plaza downtown. There’s also plenty of Louisiana cuisine being served, arts and crafts to purchase, activities for kids in the Kids on the Bayou Children’s Area and more.

Naturally, since it’s a “mudbug” festival, there’s plenty of boiled crawfish to enjoy, plus a crawfish eating contest. The popular fête has been named as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events and the American Bus Association’s Top 100 Events in the nation.

Don’t Miss

The festival features special events such as a celebrity crawfish eating contest and discounts on the first day.

Tip

Even though there are more than 10,000 hotel rooms to choose from in Shreveport-Bossier City, from casinos to boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts, accommodations may be hard to find during the Memorial Day weekend so grab your hotel rooms early.

Gonzales Jambalaya Festival

May 22-25  //  Gonzales  //  jambalayafestival.net

Nothing like the power of word of mouth.

In 1968, Louisiana Gov. John J. McKeithen proclaimed Gonzales as the “Jambalaya Capital of the World,” due to the preponderance of jambalaya cooks in the Ascension Parish city. A few days later the first Jambalaya Festival was held with 13 cooks participating in the cook-off, hoping to be named the “World Jambalaya Cooking Champion.”

Word got out and the public responded. By 1971, the festival attracted nearly 50,000 visitors! And it wasn’t just about jambalaya. The early festival included a horse race and the Jambalaya Art Show with more than 500 participants. The following year the festival introduced the “Mini Pot” jambalaya cooking contest which would result in the crowning of the “World’s Smallest Jambalaya Pot.”

Don’t miss: Visitors may watch the cooks in action, then sample the jambalaya dishes.

Tips: Ascension Parish is known as Louisiana’s Sweet Spot due to its sugarcane production. Taste the sweetness at Sugarfield Spirits in Gonzales, a distillery that incorporates cane, sugar and molasses sourced from Assumption Parish.