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This Week's Edition
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Louisiana's biggest barbecue festival brings 30,000 people to New Orleans this weekend, boudin championships fire up in Scott, and we look back at the April battle that stopped the Union from capturing Shreveport 162 years ago. Here's your guide to Louisiana's biggest festival weekend of the spring.
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April 7-13, 2026
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Louisiana's Biggest Spring Festival Weekend Arrives
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Crowds gather at the lakefront as smoke and music fill the air at Hogs for the Cause
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| This is the weekend Louisiana goes all in. | | Hogs for the Cause takes over the Lakefront in New Orleans. The Scott Boudin Festival celebrates the Boudin Capital of the World. Ponchatoula's Strawberry Festival draws tens of thousands to the Northshore. Railroad Days rolls in DeQuincy. And up in Pelican, 400 reenactors will fight the Battle of Pleasant Hill on the actual battlefield where it happened 162 years ago. | | It's one of those weekends where something major is happening in every corner of the state. From barbecue championships to Civil War reenactments, from strawberry eating contests to German heritage celebrations, Louisiana is celebrating everything at once. | | Spring weather is perfect. Festival season is hitting full stride. And from the Lakefront to North Louisiana, there's something worth driving to. Here's what's happening across the state—April 7 through 13. |
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What's Happening in Your Area Code
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🎭 New Orleans / Kenner / Metairie - 504
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Smoke fills the air as barbecue teams compete at Hogs for the Cause
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| Hogs for the Cause |
| UNO Lakefront Arena Festival Grounds, New Orleans · April 10-11, 2026 |
| Over 30,000 fans gather for 90 competing barbecue teams and 20 bands across three stages, with all proceeds supporting families battling pediatric brain cancer. More than $15 million raised to date. It's one of the biggest BBQ and music festivals in the country, and it happens right here in New Orleans. |
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| Volksfest |
| New Orleans · April 10-12, 2026 |
| New Orleans' annual German heritage festival brings together authentic food, beer, live music, and old-world culture. A great reminder that Louisiana's heritage is more layered than most people know. |
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| Baton Rouge Margarita Festival |
| Baton Rouge · Saturday, April 11, 2026 |
| Cold margaritas, live music, and a spring Saturday in the Capital City. One of Baton Rouge's most popular warm-weather events and a great excuse to get downtown if you haven't been lately. |
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🎶 Lafayette / Acadiana Area - 337
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| Scott Boudin Festival |
| 125 Lions Club Road, Scott · April 10-12, 2026 |
| Scott was officially declared the Boudin Capital of the World by the Louisiana Legislature in 2012, and every April this festival proves exactly why. Three days of Wayne Toups, Keith Frank, Chris Ardoin, boudin every way imaginable, and dancing contests that go all night. |
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| Louisiana Railroad Days Festival |
| Railroad Museum Park, DeQuincy · April 9-11, 2026 |
| Free, family-friendly, and alcohol-free, the 43rd annual festival celebrates DeQuincy's deep railroad heritage with live entertainment, a grand parade, carnival rides, and model train exhibits. A Top 20 Southern Event every single year. |
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🚤 Houma / Thibodaux / Bayou Country - 985
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Strawberry season peaks as thousands gather in Ponchatoula
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| Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival |
| Memorial Park, Ponchatoula · April 10-12, 2026 |
| The largest free harvest festival in Louisiana, drawing tens of thousands for strawberry eating contests, live music, carnival rides, and a Saturday morning parade. The Strawberry Capital of the World at its absolute best. |
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| Abita Springs Busker Festival |
| Abita Springs · Sunday, April 12, 2026 |
| Street performers, musicians, and artists take over the charming streets of Abita Springs for a free, family-friendly afternoon that captures exactly why the Northshore feels like Louisiana's best-kept secret. |
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🌲 Shreveport / North Louisiana - 318
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| Battle of Pleasant Hill Reenactment & Festival |
| Pelican, Louisiana · April 10-12, 2026 |
| The reenactment marks the anniversary of one of the major Civil War events in Louisiana—the Red River Campaign—fought on the actual battlefield where Union and Confederate forces clashed on April 9, 1864, with 400+ reenactors, a parade, pageant, period dance, and open camp activities. Living history doesn't get more Louisiana than this. |
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| The Battle That Changed Everything |
| The Day a Confederate Victory Saved Shreveport |
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Reenactors bring the Battle of Pleasant Hill back to life
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| 📅 April 9, 1864 |
| The battle that stopped the Union from taking Louisiana |
| On April 9, 1864, General Nathaniel Banks stood on a battlefield 16 miles southeast of Mansfield, Louisiana, and made a decision that would change the course of the war in the West. |
He retreated.
Banks had come to Louisiana with 20,000 troops, 30 warships, and one goal: capture Shreveport, the Confederate capital of Louisiana. The plan was simple. March up the Red River, take Shreveport, and cut the Confederacy in half. If it worked, the war would be over by summer.
It didn't work.
The day before, at the Battle of Mansfield, Confederate General Richard Taylor had ambushed Banks' advance and sent the Union army reeling backward. Banks regrouped at a small village called Pleasant Hill and waited. He knew Taylor was coming.
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| At 5 p.m. on April 9, Taylor attacked. His Confederate forces, though outnumbered, charged the entire Union line. The battle lasted two hours. Losses were heavy on both sides—1,300 Union casualties, 1,600 Confederate. | | Tactically, the Union won. They repulsed the Confederate attack and held the field.
| | But strategically, the Confederates won something more important. Banks lost his nerve. That night, he ordered a full retreat down the Red River and abandoned his plan to capture Shreveport. The largest Union offensive west of the Mississippi River was over.
| | The Battle of Pleasant Hill was the largest battle fought west of the Mississippi during the entire war. It saved Shreveport, kept Confederate Louisiana alive for another year, and tied down Union resources that were desperately needed elsewhere. | | This weekend, 400 reenactors will return to the actual battlefield in Pelican, Louisiana, to bring that day back to life. Cannons, muskets, cavalry charges, period camps, and the story of the battle that changed everything. |
| 162 years ago this week. |
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| Can You Guess This Classic Louisiana Last Name? |
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| This name means "bold people" in French. | | It comes from the Old French personal name Thibault, which derives from the Germanic elements meaning "brave" and "bold." The surname is a diminutive form, essentially meaning "descendant of the bold one." | | The name arrived in Louisiana through Acadia in the 18th century after the French expulsion. Five Acadian families bearing this name arrived from France in 1785. Four settled along the upper Bayou Lafourche, and one family went to Bayou des Écores north of Baton Rouge. | | Those families became the foundation for one of the most common French surnames in Louisiana. Today, nearly 3,000 households carry the name across the state. | | You'll find it concentrated in St. Martin, Lafayette, and St. Landry parishes—the heart of old Acadian Louisiana. But it's also spread south along the bayous into Terrebonne and Lafourche, and west into the rice and oil country of Southwest Louisiana. | | This name is more than just a surname. It's part of Louisiana's cultural identity. Along with Boudreaux, it appears in Cajun jokes and folklore as the archetypal Cajun character. If you've heard a Cajun joke, there's a good chance this name was in it. |
| The answer: Thibodeaux |
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A classic Cajun name rooted deep in Louisiana’s bayou heritage
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| Oyster House Legacy |
| Why This 116-Year-Old Oyster House Is Still New Orleans' Best |
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| Acme Oyster House — Shucking Oysters Since 1910
724 Iberville Street, New Orleans | | Before Louis Armstrong ever formed his first band, the Acme Café opened on Royal Street in the French Quarter in 1910. | | It was a small seafood cafe serving oysters, po' boys, and Gulf seafood to locals and dockworkers. Nothing fancy. Just fresh oysters, cold beer, and Louisiana cooking.
| | In 1924, a fire destroyed the building. The cafe moved to 724 Iberville Street, changed its name to Acme Oyster House, and has been shucking oysters there ever since. | | The restaurant became a New Orleans institution. In 1940, it was a favorite spot for troops shipping out to war or coming home. By the 1950s and '60s, Acme was the place to go in the French Quarter. But by the 1980s, business had slowed so much there was only one waitress working. That's when the iconic "Waitress Available Sometimes" sign was born—and it's still there today. | | In 1985, Mike Rodrigue bought the restaurant and brought it back to life. When he took over, Acme was serving 25,000 oysters a year. Today, they shuck over a million. | | Acme is famous for its raw oysters and chargrilled oysters—sizzling in herb butter and cheese. But they're also known for the "15 Dozen Club." If you eat 15 dozen raw oysters in one sitting, your name goes on the wall. Seventy-six people have done it. The record is 42 dozen. | | The restaurant has survived fires, wars, the Great Depression, Hurricane Katrina, and a pandemic. It's still owned by the same family, still serving the same oysters, still in the same spot on Iberville Street. |
| 116 years later, Acme Oyster House is still the standard for New Orleans oysters. |
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Oysters on the grill at one of New Orleans’ most iconic seafood spots
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⚜️ Sponsored by BayouRoots
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Every Louisiana Name
Has a First Chapter.
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When did your family first arrive in Louisiana? Which parish? What brought them here? BayouRoots traces every surname — any surname — through the historical record of this state.
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Louisiana comes alive with festivals, food, and music across the state
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| This is the weekend Louisiana celebrates everything at once. | | Hogs for the Cause brings 30,000 people to the Lakefront. The Scott Boudin Festival fires up in the Boudin Capital of the World. Ponchatoula celebrates strawberries. DeQuincy celebrates railroads. Pelican brings the Battle of Pleasant Hill back to life on the actual battlefield. | | It's one of those weekends where you could go anywhere in the state and find something worth being at. Different traditions, different communities, but the same Louisiana energy. | | Spring is here. Festival season is hitting full stride. And from here until summer, there's something happening every single weekend. | | Until next time, |
| Michael |
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