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Summers in Breaux Bridge are often hot and wet, but there are many activities residents and visitors can enjoy that involve the outdoors.  Breaux Bridge has an abundance of wildlife, from the native crawfish making dirt chimneys in our ditches to the cicada chirping that accompanies summer evenings on the porch, wildlife is everywhere.  Recently, drivers spotted an alligator on the highway basking in the sun. With wildlife is all around us every day, it’s easy to forget that there are designated activities that bring us closer to wildlife and their natural habitats.  Lake Martin is a beautiful lake formed in 1952 when a ring levee was built around the swamp.  At 580 acres, Lake Martin has become a refuge for wildlife and especially birds.  Lake Martin is a popular destination for bird watchers in Acadiana with over 200 species of birds, including the great blue heron, snowy egret, and the roseate spoonbill. Cypress trees create enough shade for visitors to keep them cool while kayaking or exploring the shore of Lake Martin.  In addition to its abundance of birds, Lake Martin is a popular spot to search for alligators. They can be spotted by simply driving the dirt road around the lake or even kayaking in the water.  Swamp tours for tourists create a safe way for visitors and residents to view alligators and wildlife from the safety of a larger boat as well.  The Atchafalaya Basin is also a refuge for wildlife and brings many people to fish in its waters every day.  To avoid the heat, many people will go bow-fishing at night.  People will tell you spotting alligators at night is easy because their eyes glow in the beam of a flashlight. Hunting for bullfrogs is also a great nighttime summer activity in Breaux Bridge. If your family wants a more leisurely outdoor activity for the summer in Breaux Bridge, the Bayou Teche is a great waterway for kayaking and boat riding.  However you choose to spend your time this summer in Breaux Bridge, the wildlife will be there to follow you: whether it’s the sound of the cicadas, the dastardly mosquitos, or the beautiful birds and intimidating reptiles, Breaux Bridge has them in abundance. 

It is well documented that Louisiana has an obsession with festivals. There are more festivals in the state than there are days in the year, and the state celebrates anything from food, to music, to unique cultural and regional activities. What makes festivals so popular among residents and tourists alike? Most people will tell you it is the combination of good food, good music, good drinks, and good people. Louisiana loves a good time, and Breaux Bridge is no different. Festivals celebrate everything Louisiana loves on a macro level. They are huge expressions of everything Louisianans love in one place, but Breaux Bridge knows the town can’t wait around every year for the annual Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival to roll around to have a good time. In Breaux Bridge, “festival life” is present every day. Many restaurants in Breaux Bridge combine good food with live music events to entice residents and tourists through their doors, and there is good reason to. Music is known to forge emotional connections in the mind, turning a simple dining out experience into a happy, heart-warming outing in more ways than one. Live music and great food foster a sense of community, and Cajun jam sessions are popular both at home and in cafés. Open jam sessions are, like the name says, open for anyone, with amateur and professional musicians alike gathering in a circle and playing where the music takes them. Breaux Bridge’s Cajun music heritage is rich and, like other forms of folk music, passed down from one generation to the next. Cajuns are known for their joie de vivre, and find profound enjoyment in the slow life: meals taken at a leisurely pace with Cajun and zydeco music frequently in the background, long days cooking down many dozen ears of corn into a delectable, century old corn maque choux recipe, laughter and music wafting from the front porch with a cup of coffee or a chilled bottle of beer. The Cajun culture in Breaux Bridge is as much a draw for tourists as the food and the music, with many out-of-towners noting that Breaux Bridge is a town where time stands still, with modern amenities but with a history and a culture that thrives.

Typically, when fall begins in Breaux Bridge, LA, residents get small snippets of crisp, cool air that quickly succumb to suffocating heat and humidity by the end of the day or week. This year, however, it seems fall weather is here to stay, at least for a few more weeks. What does this mean for residents and visitors to Breaux Bridge, LA? Gumbo! Gumbo is the perfect dish for cooler weather because it is cooked on the stovetop for hours. Cooking anything on a hot stove for several hours can heat up a household, so gumbo days are reserved for days where windows can be thrown wide open to let in the cool air, with a general consensus being that gumbo weather officially starts at 60 degrees Fahrenheit or below. Eating gumbo also seems to warm you from the inside out and enjoying it all cozied up on a cool day is nostalgic for many in Acadiana, reminding them of the start of the holidays, football season, and family gatherings. While many in Breaux Bridge, LA may agree that gumbo season starts with the first cold snap of the fall, there are several aspects of cooking gumbo that can start many debates over the family Magnalite pot. The use of gumbo file, store-bought or homemade roux (plus the darkness of said roux), how long you cook the gumbo, and whether or not okra is a necessary addition are all up for debate. One thing many Cajun cooks can agree with, however, is that gumbo does not have tomatoes. Don’t mention them, don’t ask for them, or you will be kicked out of their outdoor kitchen tout suite!

It’s that time of year again. Where the temperature cools off, the humidity drops, and people can spend time outside without becoming a sweaty, sticky mess. Whether that means you will finally venture outside to bird watch at Lake Martin or fish the bayous and basin, the smell of fall in the air is invigorating. Cooking outdoors is an activity many Cajuns and residents of Breaux Bridge, LA enjoy. After a cool day of fishing, invite friends and family over for an outdoor fish fry and turn it into a fun event. Of course, this assumes you actually caught enough fish to feed people, but if not, oysters will soon be in season. An oyster fry with hushpuppies, fries, and onion rings at dusk outdoors in the fall sounds fantastic. If you are not particularly outdoorsy but still like to spend time outside in the fall, Breaux Bridge has an annual garage sale during the first weekend of October every year. Businesses and vendors open their doors downtown, and the city provides a map of homes and businesses outside of downtown that have chosen to participate in the city-wide garage sale. Breaux Bridge’s citywide garage sale is a fun event for all ages, with items for sale to suit every need and desire. You can even prepare for Halloween with inexpensive clothing and items to make a truly unique costume! At Parc Hardy there is an extension of the garage sale with more booths and items for people to enjoy sponsored by the Civic Club de Pont Breaux!

The history of Cajun music is a long, winding, and emotional one—from the good times to the bad times, Cajun music has made its mark on the culture of south Louisiana, and of Louisiana as a whole. It has produced a unique experience, as diverse as the people of Louisiana, and just as culturally influential. Cajun music traces its roots all the way back to the French, Spanish, and especially Acadian settlers (les Acadiéns, the descendants of French-speaking settlers of Canada, who would eventually be known as Cajuns). The first permanent settlements in current-day south Louisiana, in the 1760s, brought the unaccompanied ballad as a popular form of music in the day. Songs of love, betrayal, and humor that had been passed down through the generations made their new homes in Louisiana, often sung at events like weddings and funerals. The performance of the ballad was accompanied by family, food, and friends, which are strong traditions in Cajun music still today. The introduction of the accordion in the late 19th century made a significant impact on Cajun songs. The accordion is the most recognized instrument associated with the style of music even today. A Louisiana Saturday night is not complete without the presence of these ever-popular Cajun music instruments, which paved the way for the upbeat Cajun and Zydeco of today by introducing waltzes, two steps, and dance halls. Today, Cajun music takes influences from a wide variety of genres, especially rock, blues, and R&B, but the exchange is mutual: the music has more exposure than ever, with many outside of Louisiana having the opportunity to hear Cajun songs for the first time and to reflect its influences on their own music. Cajun music enjoys an enduring legacy both inside and outside of Louisiana, as the dance halls continue to rock on Saturday nights and show no sign of stopping.

It is difficult to look around the town of Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, and not see a crawfish. They are painted on bridges, carved into signs, used to decorate doorfronts, and more. It is the Crawfish Capital of the World after all. But how and why? Louisiana as a whole is the largest producer of crawfish in the world with St. Martin Parish providing the most of that crawfish. Breaux Bridge specifically became so known for its crawfish farming and cooking that to celebrate its centennial birthday the Louisiana Legislature gave it the name in 1959. Why Crawfish?Who decided such a funny-looking creature would be a delicious undertaking? If you know the history of the Acadians in Breaux Bridge, it’s a simple leap. After Le Grande Derangement, the new inhabitants of South Louisiana, familiar with seafood because of their time in the Canadian maritime provinces and with help from the local Native Americans, decided to take advantage of the abundant food source. It wasn’t until the 1800s however that crawfish were farmed, and it wasn’t until many years later that they were seen as a culinary adventure for all people. FarmingToday, crawfish farming is necessary to keep up with the demands of the bright red crustaceans. How are they farmed? When crawfish became popular, many rice farmers decided to cash in on the crawfish already feeding in their flooded fields. As grain farming became less economical, many farmers switched to full-time crawfish farming but still planted the price for food. Breaux Bridge Crawfish FestivalThe Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival is the largest food festival in the state of Louisiana. 10s of thousands patronize the festival, which takes place on the first full weekend in May each year. Filled with music, delicious food, fun rides, crawfish races and the ever-important crawfish etouffee cook-off; the festival celebrates Breaux Bridge‘s claim to fame and honors the crawfish the town is known for.