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.
