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This Week's Edition
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Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival runs May 29-31 in the town named after Louisiana's most famous pirate, the Barataria Bay smuggler who helped Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans. Set alongside the Wetland Trace boardwalk through cypress swamps, the festival brings fresh fried oysters, shrimp po-boys, Wayne Toups, Craig Morgan, and the Louisiana bayou energy that makes this state like nowhere else.
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Louisiana's Most Famous Pirate Gets a Festival
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| Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival runs May 29-31 in the town named after the Barataria Bay smuggler who helped save New Orleans from the British. Set alongside the [Wetland Trace](https://www.nps.gov/jela/planyourvisit/barataria-preserve.htm), a boardwalk through a 41-acre cypress swamp next to Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, the festival brings fresh fried oysters, shrimp po-boys, Wayne Toups, Craig Morgan, kayak rentals, and carnival rides all in one unforgettable bayou setting. | | Perfect spring weather. Peak crawfish season winding down. And from Jean Lafitte to Shreveport to Gonzales to Lafayette, Louisiana is celebrating seafood, summer, and the traditions that make this state like nowhere else on earth. Here is what is happening across the state—May 26 through June 1. |
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What's Happening in Your Area Code
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🎭 New Orleans / Kenner / Metairie - 504
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| Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival |
| Jean Lafitte Auditorium & Grounds, 4953 City Park Dr., Jean Lafitte · May 29-31, 2026 |
| Set alongside the Wetland Trace, a boardwalk through a 41-acre cypress swamp next to the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park, this festival brings fresh fried oysters, shrimp po-boys, Wayne Toups, Craig Morgan, kayak rentals, and carnival rides all in one unforgettable bayou setting. Friday admission $10, Saturday $20, Sunday $10. Kids 12 and under always free. [Learn more](https://www.lafitteseafoodfest.com) |
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| 59th Annual Gonzales Jambalaya Festival |
| Lamar Dixon Expo Center, Gonzales · May 21-24, 2026 |
| 59 years of wood-fired Louisiana heritage return to Lamar Dixon Expo Center with the World Champion Jambalaya Cook-Off, three nights of Louisiana music, a full carnival midway, and a car show. Thursday is Family Night with free admission, and kids 12 and under are always free all weekend. [Learn more](https://www.jambalayafestival.net) |
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🎶 Lafayette / Acadiana Area - 337
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| 39th Annual Zydeco Extravaganza |
| Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette · Sunday, May 24, 2026 |
| Headlined by Chris Ardoin, Keith Frank, and Tucka, as strong a top three as you will see at any Zydeco event anywhere. The Grandaddy of Them All and the largest one-day Zydeco festival in the world also features an amateur accordion contest, Creole food vendors, and the underrated luxury of air conditioning at a May South Louisiana event. [Learn more](https://zydecoextra.com) |
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🚤 Houma / Thibodaux / Bayou Country - 985
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| Memorial Day Weekend on the Northshore |
| Various Locations · May 23-25, 2026 |
| The Northshore goes all out for Memorial Day weekend with community cookouts, lakefront gatherings, and live music from Slidell to Mandeville. The kind of Louisiana long weekend your grandparents invented and your grandkids will still be doing. [Learn more](https://www.visitslidell.com) |
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🌲 Shreveport / North Louisiana - 318
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| Mudbug Madness Festival |
| 101 Crockett St., Shreveport · May 22-24, 2026 |
| North Louisiana's signature crawfish blowout runs all Memorial Day weekend at Festival Plaza on the Red River, featuring Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience alongside multiple stages of live music, all-you-can-eat crawfish, food vendors, and the kind of Red River energy that makes Shreveport feel like the center of the universe for three days straight. [Learn more](https://www.mudbugmadness.com) |
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| When Louisiana's Most Famous Pirate Became a War Hero |
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| Jean Lafitte was born around 1780 in France or Saint-Domingue. By 1810, he was operating as a pirate and smuggler in Louisiana. |
| Lafitte and his older brother Pierre made their base at Barataria Bay, a secluded inlet south of New Orleans and west of the Mississippi Delta. The location was perfect. The maze of shallow waterways and secret bayous made it nearly impossible for authorities to search the area. But it was close enough to New Orleans for merchants eager to get their hands on cheap goods. |
From Barataria Bay, Lafitte commanded around 1,000 men, including free Black men and runaway slaves. His privateers attacked and looted over 100 government vessels. He smuggled African slaves because the United States outlawed international slave imports in 1808. Lafitte purchased slaves in the West Indies where they were cheap and smuggled them into Louisiana where they were expensive. He held lavish auctions in the Louisiana swamps and hoarded an arsenal of cannons and gunpowder.
In September 1814, the British approached Lafitte with an offer: $30,000, the position of captain in the British Navy, and amnesty from prosecution if he would help them attack New Orleans. Lafitte asked for two weeks to consider. Instead of accepting, he warned Louisiana officials of New Orleans' peril. Governor W.C.C. Claiborne did not believe him and summoned the U.S. Army and Navy to wipe out the Barataria colony.
Still protesting his loyalty to the United States, Lafitte offered aid to General Andrew Jackson in defense of New Orleans if he and his men could be granted a full pardon. Jackson accepted. In the Battle of New Orleans on January 8, 1815, Lafitte's force manned around 16 cannons and fought with distinction. Jackson personally commended Lafitte as one of the ablest men of the battle. President James Madison issued a public pardon for Lafitte and 1,000 of his men. Louisiana's most famous pirate became a war hero, and the town of Jean Lafitte carries his name today.
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| Sometimes breaking the rules makes better rules. |
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| Can You Name This Louisiana Legend? |
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| This Louisiana legend was born September 2, 1948, in Shreveport, Louisiana, and grew up on a farm in a strict Southern Baptist household about 20 miles from the Texas border. | | He attended Woodlawn High School in Shreveport where he excelled as a star quarterback and record-setting javelin thrower. Highly recruited, he shunned Louisiana State University to attend Louisiana Tech University in Ruston. At Louisiana Tech, he broke all the major school passing records and was named an All-American, an unusual honor since Louisiana Tech was not a Division I team.
| | In 1970, he was selected first overall in the NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. It took him a few seasons to adjust to the pro game, but once he did, he became the dominant quarterback of the NFL. He led the Steelers to eight AFC Central championships and four Super Bowl titles in a six-year period from 1974 to 1979, becoming the first quarterback to win three and then four Super Bowls. He won Super Bowl MVP honors twice.
| | He had a powerful throwing arm and called his own plays throughout his 14-year pro career. He was inducted into the [Pro Football Hall of Fame](https://www.profootballhof.com/players/terry-bradshaw) in 1989, his first year of eligibility. After retiring in 1983, he became a television football analyst and co-host of Fox NFL Sunday. | | The answer: Terry Bradshaw. The Blonde Bomber from Shreveport. Four Super Bowl rings. Two Super Bowl MVPs. NFL MVP in 1978. Louisiana still hears his voice every weekend during football season. |
| The answer: Terry Bradshaw |
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| Where the Shrimp Buster Was Born |
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| Herby-K's — Where the Shrimp Buster Was Born by Accident
1833 Pierre Avenue, Shreveport | | In 1936, Herbert Herby Busi turned his family business, The Flying Crow, a package liquor, tobacco, and sandwich shop that served men working on the railroad, into a restaurant. Located on Pierre Avenue in Shreveport's West End neighborhood, Herby-K's became a Shreveport favorite. In 1945, the kitchen ran out of bread during a busy shift. Herby Busi had jumbo shrimp already prepped and customers waiting. He pounded the shrimp flat with a mallet, breaded them, fried them, and stacked them on flattened French bread with a secret sauce he mixed on the spot. The Shrimp Buster was born by accident, and it became the most popular item on the menu. | | The restaurant proper seats fewer than 20 at a few bar stools and four booths, though an enclosed patio with additional seating was added later. The walls are covered with old photos, trophies, and memorabilia dating back to the 1930s. Southern Living and Garden & Gun magazines have both featured [Herby-K's](https://www.explorelouisiana.com/restaurants/herby-ks). The American Pickers stopped by in 2024. Mike Wolfe, Robbie Wolfe, and Jersey John all ordered the Shrimp Buster. | | Herby-K's is still owned and operated by the same family, making it one of the oldest continually-operated restaurants in Shreveport. The recipes have not changed since 1936. Customers can expect consistency. Jumbo shrimp are pounded flat, breaded, fried, then stacked on toasted French bread with coleslaw, lemon wedges, and the secret Shrimp Buster sauce that Herby Busi created in 1945. | | The menu includes crawfish étouffée, gumbo, sautéed catfish, oysters on the half shell, po-boys, burgers, and white chocolate bread pudding. But the Shrimp Buster is what people come for. It is the ultimate North Louisiana seafood experience, a hole-in-the-wall dive that has been serving the same dish the same way for 81 years. |
| Ninety years after Herby Busi opened the doors, Herby-K's is still there on Pierre Avenue, still frying shrimp busters, still feeding Shreveport. |
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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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Launch Discount — Save $10
$19.99 $29.99
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| The Weekend Louisiana Celebrates Seafood and Summer |
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| Jean Lafitte Seafood Festival runs May 29-31 alongside the Wetland Trace boardwalk through cypress swamps, honoring the town named after the Barataria Bay pirate who helped Andrew Jackson win the Battle of New Orleans. Fresh fried oysters, shrimp po-boys, Wayne Toups, Craig Morgan, and the Louisiana bayou energy that makes this state like nowhere else. | | From Jean Lafitte to Shreveport to Gonzales to Lafayette, Louisiana is doing what it does best—celebrating the food, music, and traditions that built this state. Perfect spring weather turning into summer. Festival season rolling on. And the weekend goes out the way Louisiana always does—with seafood, music, and the bayous that make everything feel right. | | Until next time, |
| Michael C. |
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