Exploring the Charms of Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou

Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism, the official tourism commission for Lafourche Parish, is making it easy for visitors to come see what makes our home so special– and encouraging local families and all community members to become tourists in their own backyard!

“We affectionately call Lafourche Parish ‘Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou,’ so in 2016, we decided to rebrand our tourism commission to that name,” explained Cody Gray, Tourism Director for Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism. “We really wanted people to have a strong name to identify with the area and put a new face on everything we have to offer.”

Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism is run by a small team of local community members who are passionate about promoting what makes the Bayou a place well-worth visiting. From up in Thibodaux down to Port Fourchon, Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou works with a number of different hotels, restaurants, seafood markets, festivals and event organizations, civic clubs, chambers of commerce, and businesses to promote Lafourche Parish to those visiting and local.

“We want to encourage people not only to visit here, but also help them see what our quality of life offers,” explained Cody. “We want to show them why you should relocate here, raise a family here, and showcase our unapologetically Cajun culture. We want Lafourche Parish to be seen as a regional, national, and international, year-round tourist destination.”

Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism is responsible for helping to organize a host of fun events and festivals that tourists and community members are invited to enjoy. Some of the largest ones include the Louisiana’s King Cake Festival in Thibodaux (February 15, 2025), the Fete Du Monde Festival in Raceland (April 19-12, 2024), Thibodaux on Tap Craft Beer Festival (June 8, 2024), the Golden Meadow-Fourchon Tarpon Rodeo (July 4-6, 2024), the Acadia Music Fest in Thibodaux, (October 19, 2024), Thibodeauxville (November 9, 2024), the French Food Festival in Larose (Fall of 2024), La Fête des Vieux Temps in Raceland (Fall of 2024), Big Boy’s Main Street Cook-Off in Thibodaux (November 8, 2024), and so much more. Many of these events and festivals raise thousands of dollars that are poured directly back into the community through non-profit organizations and donations– meaning they are not just fun, but in support of excellent community causes.

“As you can see, there is really no shortage of things to do in Lafourche Parish. The only time of year we don’t host festivals is in the late summer when it gets so hot,” chuckled Cody. “The way that Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism supports these events is by working with organizers to promote and market visitation to these festivals. Our job is to help amplify their voice so they can reach a much larger audience and let people know about these unique events. We feature these festivals on our social media, our website, and through print advertising as well.”

While some of these festivals are reaching multi-decade milestones, brand-new ones are also continuing to form every year– Louisiana’s King Cake Festival and Thibodaux on Tap, for example, are just completing their 2nd annual event in 2024, and have already gained state-wide attention. “It makes us really happy to see how many new festivals are coming to the area– especially ones that put a new spin on things or highlight different cultural aspects of our community,” said Cody. “We always want to see new tourism opportunities coming up, and I think it speaks very highly for our parish that we have so many to offer. It is no secret that everyone down here loves to have a good time, so any chance we have to get together as a community and enjoy music, food, and fun, is something we should all support.”

Alongside an impressive list of festivals to attend, Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism knows there is one thing you can’t miss while visiting the area– the delicious, unique, and beloved Cajun cuisine. For those tourists looking to experience the Bayou through food, or families looking to find their new favorite local spot, Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism has created a fun opportunity called the “Cajun Bayou Food Trail.”

“This is a really great attraction that not only visitors love, but locals get into it as well,” said Cody. “The Cajun Bayou Food Trail launched originally in 2018, and we just relaunched it recently after COVID-19. Some restaurants had closed, some had come back, so we revamped it with a new list, passport, and t-shirt. It’s a really fun way to see the community and culture on your own time.”

To participate in the trail, simply download a “passport” from Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism’s official website, (lacajunbayou.com) visit five of the participating restaurants and enjoy a delicious meal, then have a staff member stamp your “passport”– once you receive five stamps, turn your passport in at their Visitor’s Center in Raceland, and you’ll receive a free official Cajun Bayou Food Trail t-shirt. There are 18 different restaurants to choose from, each offering their own unique assortment of menu items.

While most everyone loves festivals and a good meal, that is not all Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou has to offer– the tourist commission also serves as a way to help visitors and locals alike explore Lafourche Parish by offering ways to book swamp tours in our natural waterways, charter airboats for fishing trips, tour different museums and historical locations to learn about the region’s history, take lessons to learn a little Cajun French, and so much more.

Whether it’s through festivals, tours, or the Cajun Bayou Food Trail, the responsibility of promoting Lafourche Parish has been an extremely rewarding job for Cody. “We have an incredibly talented team who believe in the power of tourism and what it can do for a community,” said Cody. “They have a passion for Lafourche Parish and our culture, and it’s so rewarding to see these ideas come to life. The people here are what really set our parish apart, because they always make you feel welcome and at home. Getting to work alongside these tourism partners and promote the amazing things they do to the world is incredibly fulfilling.”

Cody continued, stating that one of the biggest parts of his work at Louisiana’s Cajun  Bayou  Tourism  is  not  only promoting Lafourche Parish to visitors– but encouraging community members to become tourists in their own backyards. “The summer is a really wonderful time for families to get out and enjoy some of these great things we have to offer,” said Cody. “A lot of the comments we hear from locals who visit our office is that they had no idea a certain festival takes place ten minutes from their house, or that we had a specific restaurant, and so on. Sometimes living in an area makes it easy to take things for granted, and we want to help people realize everything that we do have to offer.”

No matter what brings you to Lafourche Parish– whether you’re passing through, or this is your lifelong home– Louisiana’s Cajun Bayou Tourism is here to make sure there is no shortage of ways to enjoy the unique charm and culture of this incredible area.