Events in Thibodaux Louisiana

Looking for top-notch, inexpensive family entertainment, great food, a beautiful outdoor experience and some of the best music in the world? Two words: Louisiana festivals.

More than 400 Louisiana festivals occur each year – which makes it easy to see why Louisiana is often called the Festival Capital of America. We celebrate just about every crop harvested, every indigenous dish, every type of music that's played here – ranging from Cajun and zydeco to Delta blues, New Orleans jazz, Louisiana's own swamp pop, country, salsa and more. Excellent Louisiana food is a given at any festival. And as always, Louisiana festivals offer abundant opportunities for meeting new friends.

Themed festivals range from a Strawberry Festival in Ponchatoula and Tomato Festival in Chalmette to the great Festival International in Lafayette; from the big Contraband Days Pirate Festival in Lake Charles to the Holiday Festival of Lights in Natchitoches. From the Red River Revel in Shreveport to the Catfish Festival in Washington. Of course, you'll want to visit the annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, or the big family-fun French Quarter Festival.

And for the biggest of them all? That's right, Louisiana is home to Mardi Gras! But that's another story – and a very large one across the state!

Though first settled by French and Spanish Creoles from New Orleans, Thibodaux rapidly became a refuge for the Acadian exiles of the mid-1700s. The city’s history still echoes today, through its historic architecture. There’s the 1830s era E.D. White Historic Site, a plantation on Bayou Lafourche that was home to a Louisiana governor and his son, who served on the U.S. Supreme Court. There’s the Rienzi plantation, built during the Spanish colonial days— according to legend— for the Queen of Spain. There’s also the Laurel Valley Village. Once a massive sugar plantation, its dozens of remaining structures give visitors, a window into the past, as it was lived by field hands. As home to Nicholls State University, Thibodaux benefits greatly from the vibrancy and cultural activities that come from being a college town. Stop in at the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center to learn more about the area.The Center is a great way to experience the culture. It offers canoe treks in the spring and fall, plus daily walking tours and Monday night Cajun jam sessions.