Mudbug Madness Festival: Celebrating the art of pinching tails and sucking heads!
Pinching tails and sucking heads! Thats what the fun is all about at the Mudbug Madness Festival. Mudbug Madness began in 1984 as a crawfish boil that quickly grew (as do all good Louisiana parties, it seems) into a two-day street festival in downtown Shreveport and is now one of Louisianas largest and most popular Cajun festivals featuring Cajun, zydeco, blues and jazz artists.
Mudbug Madness has grown into a four-day festival held each Memorial Day weekend and is nationally recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Societys Top 20 Events, drawing as many as 56,000 people in one day. The event offers mouth-watering Cajun and Creole cuisine, contests, and activities for all ages.
Melanie Bacon, who has been with the festival for 13 years, says a lot has changed over the years. The most dramatic change is having Festival Plaza. My first year, we were still on the riverfront and did not have the beautiful setting, the pavilions, the bathrooms, etc. I think weve also done a better job of managing a fast-growing festival.
The Madness begins Memorial Day weekend, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., May 27-30, 2010, at Festival Plaza downtown Shreveport.
The festival features fun games and three entertainment stage. Bacon says that the contests attract large crowds.
One of the most popular aspects of our festival is our contests especially the mens crawfish-eating contest. People love to watch others compete.
The womens, mens, youths and childrens crawfish-eating contests set the true Louisianans apart from the crowd. Contestants must eat all the meat inside of the crawfish tail (no head-sucking required!). The person who eats the most will be given the high honor of Crawfish-Eating Winner. For those who have never witnessed the spectacle of eating a crawfish, you wont want to miss this! Everyone has their own technique and no one walks away clean.
When youre not indulging in the food from the various pavilions offering everything from crawfish etouffee to gumbo and alligator-on-a-stick, you can enjoy the live performances. The MetroPCS Stage, located on the area of Festival Plaza between Market Street and Spring Street, is the venue where nationally recognized entertainers perform and contests and special events are held. This year, the MetroPCS Stage will welcome Grammy-winning artists Terrance Simien & the Zydeco Experience. Simien won the 2008 Grammy in the Cajun category. His music was also featured in the new Disney movie The Princess and the Frog.
Dwayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers will take to the same stage. This high-energy, soulful band swept Western Europe in 2009 and is returning to its Louisiana roots to entertain this years festival-goers.
The Swamp Stage, located under the second pavilion at Festival Plaza, features local and regional favorites. Its the place where youll find blues, jazz, Southern rock, and pop. This year expect performances from Rockin Redeyes, Dusty Roads Band and The Bluebirds with Robin.
The Rockin Redeyes have been performing in the Shreveport-Bossier area for more than 40 years and are true local legends. The Dusty Roads Band is a Canadian blues-rock quintet thats sure to captivate. The Bluebirds with Robin is a local favorite. This is a roots band with lots of soul, rhythm and blues.
Kids on the Bayou is the place for kids of all ages to enjoy Mudbug Madness. It features Party Central play stations, Water Wars, storytellers, musicians and much more!
Bacon adds, I think Mudbug Madness says fun. Everybody looks forward to the crazy contests, the laid-back atmosphere and the South Louisiana culture that you typically cant find north of Alexandria. We constantly hear from out-of-towners what a friendly place Shreveport-Bossier is, so the great experience people have at Mudbug reflects the greatness of the entire community!
Admission is free on Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and $5 per person after 6 p.m. Admission on Saturday and Sunday is $5 per person 11 a.m. until closing. Children under 12 are free at all times. For more information on Mudbug Madness you can call 318.222.7403 or check them out online at www.mudbugmadness.com
Source: Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau
