| |
|
|
| |
|
⚜️ Love what you're reading? Forward this edition to a friend or send them to subscribe here.
|
| |
|
This Week's Edition
|
|
Memorial Day weekend brings Louisiana together like no other weekend of the year. New Orleans Greek Festival returns to Bayou St. John. Mudbug Madness takes over Shreveport. Gonzales celebrates the Jambalaya Capital of the World. Lafayette hosts the Zydeco Extravaganza. From Greek traditions to crawfish to zydeco, Louisiana is doing what it does best this weekend.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
LOUISIANA NEWSLETTER — MAY 19–25, 2026
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Memorial Day Weekend Brings Louisiana Together | | New Orleans Greek Festival runs May 22-24 at Holy Trinity Cathedral on Bayou St. John, celebrating 52 years of the Memorial Day weekend tradition that honors the oldest Greek Orthodox church in the Americas. Authentic Greek food, live music, folk dancing, and the warm hospitality that reminds you this city was built by immigrants who brought their whole culture with them and never looked back | | Mudbug Madness takes over Shreveport May 22-24 with all-you-can-eat crawfish, live music across multiple stages, and the kind of Red River energy that makes Memorial Day weekend in North Louisiana an absolute event. Gonzales hosts the Jambalaya Festival May 21-24 with a world championship cook-off in the Jambalaya Capital of the World. Lafayette brings the Zydeco Extravaganza on Sunday, May 24, with the best zydeco artists in Louisiana performing from noon to 11:30 PM at Blackham Coliseum.
| | Perfect spring weather. Peak crawfish season. And from New Orleans to Shreveport to Gonzales to Lafayette, Louisiana is celebrating the traditions that make this state like nowhere else on earth. Here is what is happening across the state—May 19 through 25. |
|  | |
|
What's Happening in Your Area Code
|
| |
|
🎭 New Orleans / Kenner / Metairie - 504
|
|
|
| New Orleans Greek Festival |
| Holy Trinity Cathedral, New Orleans · May 22-24, 2026 |
| One of New Orleans' most beloved annual traditions. Authentic Greek food, live music, folk dancing, and the kind of warm community hospitality that reminds you this city was built by immigrants who brought their whole culture with them and never looked back. [Learn more](https://www.gfno.com) |
| | |
|
|
|
|
| Gonzales Jambalaya Festival |
| Gonzales · May 21-24, 2026 |
| The Jambalaya Capital of the World throws its annual crown-jewel celebration. The Gonzales Jambalaya Festival runs May 21-24 with a world championship jambalaya cook-off, live music, carnival rides, and the kind of rice-and-pork magic that put Gonzales on the Louisiana food map generations ago. [Learn more](https://www.tourlouisiana.com/festivals-and-events/12547/Breaux-Bridge-Crawfish-Festival)
|
| | |
|
|
|
🎶 Lafayette / Acadiana Area - 337
|
|
|
| Zydeco Extravaganza |
| Blackham Coliseum, Lafayette · Sunday, May 24, 2026 |
| The Zydeco Extravaganza runs Sunday, May 24, from noon to 11:30 PM at Blackham Coliseum in Lafayette. The premier zydeco music event in Acadiana, packed wall to wall with the best zydeco artists in Louisiana for one full day of dancing, food, and pure Creole soul. [Learn more](https://www.explorelouisiana.com/events/spring) |
| | |
|
|
|
🚤 Houma / Thibodaux / Bayou Country - 985
|
|
| Slidell Heritage Festival |
| Old Town Slidell · Saturday, May 23, 2026 |
| The Slidell Heritage Festival fills the streets of Old Town Slidell with live music, local vendors, food, and a celebration of the Northshore's deep roots. A free, family-friendly Saturday that captures exactly what makes the Slidell community tick. [Learn more](https://www.tourlouisiana.com/festivals-and-events/12547/Breaux-Bridge-Crawfish-Festival) |
| | |
|
|
|
🌲 Shreveport / North Louisiana - 318
|
|
| Mudbug Madness Festival |
| Festival Plaza, Shreveport · May 22-24, 2026 |
| Mudbug Madness runs May 22-24 in Shreveport. North Louisiana's biggest crawfish festival with all-you-can-eat mudbugs, live music across multiple stages, and the kind of Red River energy that makes Memorial Day weekend in Shreveport an absolute event. One of the signature spring festivals for the entire 318. [Learn more](https://www.tourlouisiana.com/festivals-and-events/12547/Breaux-Bridge-Crawfish-Festival) |
| | | |
|
| WHEN GREEKS BROUGHT THEIR WHOLE CULTURE TO NEW ORLEANS |
|
|
|
|
|
| Greeks arrived in New Orleans as early as the mid-1700s. |
| Miguel Dragon came to New Orleans as a Greek seaman from the Venetian Empire in 1766. Andrea Dimitry arrived before 1799, married Dragon's daughter Marianne, and their children and grandchildren became prominent community leaders in publishing, military, politics, education, and business. |
By the mid-1800s, waves of Greek immigrants were arriving in New Orleans. In 1864, Nicholas Benachi, an international merchant and Consul of the Royal Government of Greece, offered his personal home at 2257 Bayou Road for Orthodox worship services. The establishment of the Orthodox faith in America was becoming a reality. That home became Holy Trinity, the first Greek Orthodox church in North and South America.
The Greek community grew. In 1950, the original church was replaced with a brick cathedral when Holy Trinity became the headquarters of a diocese with an assigned bishop. In 1976, the cathedral moved to 1200 Allen Toussaint Boulevard with a membership of approximately 350 families representing the full spectrum of Orthodox Christianity.
In 1974, the members of Holy Trinity hosted the first Greek Festival as a small community gathering to celebrate their rich cultural heritage. The festival grew fast. By the 1980s, it had become one of Southern Louisiana's largest cultural festivals. Today, the New Orleans Greek Festival draws 20,000 people every Memorial Day weekend with authentic Greek food, live music, Hellenic dancers in traditional costumes, cathedral tours, and the kind of warm hospitality the Greek community brought to New Orleans over 250 years ago and never let go.
|
| This weekend, the 52nd annual Greek Festival returns to Bayou St. John, honoring the oldest Greek Orthodox church in the Americas and the immigrants who built their whole culture into the fabric of New Orleans. |
| | |
| Can You Name This Louisiana Last Name? |
|
| He most likely arrived in Port Royal, a maritime center on the shores of the Bay of Fundy. Acadia, now known as Nova Scotia, was a maritime province of New France. He married Madeline Blanchard in 1656 in Port Royal.
The family lived in Acadia for over 100 years. By the time of the Grand Derangement in 1755, when the British expelled the Acadians from Nova Scotia, this family had grown large and spread across Acadia. Pierre Richard and his wife Marguerite Dugas were among those expelled. Their first son Fabien was born shortly after 1752 and was most likely the last Richard of this lineage born in Acadia. | | There is no record of the births of their next six children, suggesting these events occurred during their refugee status or in remote areas not readily served by Catholic clerics. Pierre Richard and his family eventually appeared in the Pointe Coupee area of Louisiana and later in and around Opelousas and Church Point.
Fabien Richard married Francoise Thibodeaux on January 10, 1779. The event was recorded in the St. Martinville Catholic Church, and by this time the Richards were securely settled in Louisiana. For the Richards, the Acadian tradition of large families continued. Fabien Richard and Francoise Thibodeaux would have 12 children. |
| The answer: Richard |
|
|
|
|
| | |
| Where a Taste-Tester Said Hallelujah and a Baton Rouge Icon Was Born |
| Juban's Restaurant — Where the Hallelujah Crab Was Born 3739 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge |
|
| In 1983, the Juban family opened a restaurant in Acadian-Perkins Plaza in Baton Rouge. The original space was about 4,500 square feet with a small bar area and only a handful of barstools, as the family was uneasy about attracting a bar crowd. Esquire magazine crowned it one of the Best New Restaurants in America. | | Founder Glenn Juban created the Hallelujah Crab when the restaurant opened. A deep-fried softshell crab stuffed with seafood filling, topped with creolaise sauce, served over Yukon gold mashed potatoes and haricot verts. When a taste-tester tried it, the response was immediate: Hallelujah. The name stuck. The dish became one of Baton Rouge's most iconic plates. The restaurant sources at least 41,000 softshell crabs a year from multiple Gulf seafood suppliers to keep up with demand.
| | Juban's became the fine dining establishment of Baton Rouge, the kind of place where you bring an important business client, have a celebratory dinner, or go to see and be seen among the Capital City's movers and shakers. Business lunches filled the private rooms. Cocktail hours packed the Atrium Bar. The Hallelujah Crab, Fish Adrian, redfish, chicken-duck-and-andouille gumbo, and BBQ shrimp became signatures. | | During COVID in July 2020, Juban's announced it would temporarily close, hoping to reopen once things settled down. Managing partner Michael Boudreaux kept the catering arm afloat while the Juban family pondered whether the restaurant had run its course. Then the emails started pouring in: You've got to open Juban's. It's an institution. It's where my family went after my first communion. It's where my parents had their 50th wedding anniversary. With pandemic-era relief loans, Juban's reopened in 2022 with a full renovation, a branding refresh by Xdesign Inc. and DNA Workshop, and a new take on the classic Creole menu led by Chef Chris Motto, formerly of Mansurs on the Boulevard and Hell's Kitchen fame. | | Today, Juban's is back. The Hallelujah Bar was named after the signature dish. Jazz brunch runs every weekend with a live second-line band. The Hallelujah Crab still elicits the same response it did in 1983. |
| Forty-three years after it opened, Juban's remains a Baton Rouge institution, favored by history makers since the day Glenn Juban served the first softshell crab that made someone say hallelujah. |
|
|
|
| | |
| |
|
⚜️ Sponsored by BayouRoots
|
|
|
|
|
Every Louisiana Name
Has a First Chapter.
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Launch Discount — Save $10
$19.99 $29.99
|
Promo Code
LAUNCH
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| | |
| The Memorial Day Weekend Louisiana Waits For |
|
|
|
Enjoy every minute of it. Mardi Gras only comes once a year.
|
| New Orleans Greek Festival returns to Bayou St. John for the 52nd year, honoring Holy Trinity Cathedral and the Greek immigrants who brought their whole culture to New Orleans over 250 years ago. Mudbug Madness takes over Shreveport with all-you-can-eat crawfish and live music. Gonzales hosts the world championship jambalaya cook-off. Lafayette brings the Zydeco Extravaganza with the best zydeco artists in Louisiana performing for 11 and a half hours straight. | | From Bayou St. John to Shreveport to Gonzales to Lafayette, Louisiana is celebrating the traditions that make this state like nowhere else on earth. Greek traditions. Crawfish. Jambalaya. Zydeco. Perfect spring weather. Peak crawfish season. And Memorial Day weekend rolls on the way Louisiana does best. |
| Michael C. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
