Mudbug Madness festival celebrates Louisiana music and crawfish

A lot of times, northwest Louisiana is described as being more akin to its Texas neighbor than to its Cajun brothers down south. But for a few days each spring, the city of Shreveport takes on a spicy Cajun flavor during the annual Mudbug Madness festival. What began in 1984 as a two-day street festival downtown has become one of Louisiana’s largest and most popular Cajun events.

Having grown into a four-day festival held each Memorial Day weekend, Mudbug Madness is recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events, drawing more than 50,000 people per day.

Scheduled for May 23 to May 26, 2013, Mudbug Madness is more than a big crawfish boil. Visitors come from all around to hear the renowned Cajun, zydeco, blues and jazz artists, featured on the festival's three stages. Join in the fun of the crawfish-eating and crawfish-calling contests, and let little ones enjoy the story-tellers, magic shows and music geared just for them.

The 2013 event promises three stages of live entertainment with performances by Louisiana favorites. (Find a full list of festival entertainment here.)

Fuel up for a weekend's worth of dancing by feasting on the delicious festival fare. Boiled crawfish, etouffée, fried crawfish tails and crawfish poboys will all be available. For those who don't desire a mess of mudbugs, you can dine on a variety of other dishes, including red beans and rice, gumbo, roasted corn, Philly cheesesteaks, gyros and more.

Full details of the 2013 event can be found at MudbugMadness.com. There's no better way to spend your Memorial Day weekend than enjoying great Louisiana food, a daily schedule of activities for kids and terrific musical performances by some of Louisiana's best Cajun, zydeco and swamp pop groups. We'll see you there!

For another great festival celebrating the mighty mudbug, check out the Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival May 4 to May 4, 2013.