By: Brittany Racca
From shrimp to sugar, gumbo to getaways, get ready to fall for Iberia Parish in this quick guide!
1. Delcambre Shrimp Festival
In August, shrimp rules with one of the best five-day festivals in South Louisiana. The Delcambre Shrimp Festival has gained its popularity by serving up a variety of delicious dishes and top notch entertainment including national recording artists.
Enjoy signature shrimp dishes like boiled shrimp, fried shrimp, shrimp sauce piquante, shrimp salad and many more, prepared by volunteer members of the festival association. If you're not in the mood for shrimp, vendors also offer a variety of other "festival" foods, beer, cold drinks and water.
2. Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival
September brings the first true tendrils of fall with the Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival (September) kicking off the season of one of the state’s premiere industries. For 80 years, the festival has brought together sugar producing parishes to honor the sugar industry with royalty, delicious foods, Cajun entertainment and a great time.
Fais-do-do’s, parades, carnival and more are just the start of what the festival has to offer.
3. World Championship Gumbo Cookoff
October calls forth more than ghosts and pumpkin spice everything in the south, it’s gumbo season. It’s no surprise the World Championship Gumbo Cookoff calls Iberia Parish home for more than 30 years. Every year, on the second weekend in October, the Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce hosts the cookoff in Bouligny Plaza on New Iberia’s historic and award-winning Main Street.
Saturday is fondly dubbed "Cajun Creole Foodfest” with teams cooking their favorite Cajun and Creole dishes for lunch, including two mini-competitions, “Meanest Beans” and “Youth Gumbo Cookoff” throughout the day. The main event happens on Sunday with the judging of more than 100 types of gumbos. Teams are divided between professional and amateur and are required to cook a minimum of 60 quarts. Visitors can try as many types of gumbos as their hearts desire.
Other fall events include pumpkin patches, Halloween storytime event “Terror on the Teche," trick-or-treating at the Isle of Iberia RV Resort and countless other fun activities for the entire family.
For a full schedule for each festival, visit their websites: Delcambre Shrimp Festival, La Sugar Cane Festival and World Championship Gumbo Cookoff.
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