World Famous Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival

Festival Location: Breaux Bridge, LA, USA

Festival State: Louisiana Festivals

Festival Type(s): Food Festivals, Food and Drink Festivals, Bizarre Festivals

By: © Nelson Taylor 2009

No doubt, Louisiana is the crawfishiest state in America. And on the banks of the Bayou Teche, the small community of Breaux Bridge goes mud-bug mad every first weekend in May. In fact, Breaux Bridge became world-renowned in 1959 when 5,000 crawfish-loving crazy Cajuns celebrated centennial with such verve that the Louisiana Legislature passed the house Concurrent Resolution No. 17, which named the town "La Capitole Mondiale de l'Ecrevisse," or "The Crawfish Capitol of the World."

Come for crawfish served any way you can imagine: boiled, fried, etouffee, dogs, jambalaya, boudin, pies, bisque, gumbo, etc. But make sure you stick around for the Crawfish Races and the Crawfish Eating Contest. The winning crustacean of the race is always mounted for posterity. As for the eating contest, a recent local lard-butt put away 55 ¾ pounds in 45 minutes. Other draws include cooking contests, rural crafts, fiddle and accordion music (Wayne Toups is a regular attraction), a dance contest, and the crowning of the Crawfish Royalty. The cost is 5 clams per day, or $10 for a 3-day pass.