What's New in Lafayette, Louisiana

Lafayette, the heart of Louisiana's Cajun Country, is known as the hub of all things Cajun - authentic Cajun cuisine, toe-tapping Cajun and Zydeco music, Cajun culture, historic attractions, scenic swamps, and festivals celebrating Mardi Gras, boudin, crawfish, black pot cooking, hot sauce and more. Not so widely known are Lafayette's cutting edge chefs that are creating inventive twists on Cajun classics and a plethora of new festivals celebrating every aspect of modern life in South Louisiana. Lafayette is a foodie's paradise, a Cajun/Zydeco music mecca and home to the best world music festival. Any day of the week, you can dine on the best Cajun food in the world and dance to authentic Cajun and Zydeco music. Every weekend, you can choose from festivals, jam sessions and dancehalls, swamp tours, paddling or cycling, and historic attractions. For more, visit the online media center at Lafayettetravel.com/media.

Accolades
2016            STS Top 20 Events: Scott Boudin Festival and Gulf Brew
2015            Diamonds in the Rough, Condé Nast Traveler
2014            Happiest City in America, Wall Street Journal Marketwatch.com
2013            Top 10 Foodie City, Livability.com
2012            Tastiest Town of the South, Southern Living
2011            Best Food City, Rand McNally/USA Today

New TABASCO® Experience!
TABASCO® has expanded the factory tour experience. Now guests can view artifacts from TABASCO® Sauce's founding family; see the growing process of pepper plants from seedlings to full-grown; visit the mash warehouse for a peak at the aging process; view and smell the aromas of the stirring vats; and learn about the company's bottling and shipping process around the world. The new restaurant, 1868, features local cuisine seasoned with TABASCO® pepper sauce flavors. TABASCO® branded merchandise is available at the TABASCO® Country Store. Tabasco.com

Official Cocktail of Lafayette Parish: Sweet Crude Rouler TM
New Orleans has the Hurricane, Louisville, Ky. has the Mint Julep and now Lafayette, La. has the Sweet Crude RoulerTM. The creation of the RoulerTM was the brainchild of David Meaux, founder of Rank Wildcat SpiritsTM, the first spirits distiller in Lafayette Parish. Sweet Crude RumTM is their award-winning small-batch white rum and is produced using sugar cane grown in South Louisiana. How do you make a RoulerTM? Mix 2 ounces Sweet Crude RumTM, 2 ounces sweet and sour, ½ ounce simple syrup and 5-10 drops of bitters; pour over ice; add 2 ounces club soda; stir and garnish with a lemon twist. Enjoy! RankWildcat.com

Cajun Food Tours
Experience the flavor of Louisiana on Cajun Food Tours fun, cozy customized tour bus. Ranked #1 on TripAdvisor as the best thing to do in Lafayette, guests learn about Louisiana history and culture, and taste several of the renowned Cajun food delights that make Lafayette Parish so unique. From fresh gulf seafood to boudin and cracklins, this tour lets you sample a variety of Cajun and Creole specialties. CajunFoodTours.com

New Programming at Vermilionville
Vermilionville, situated on the banks of the Bayou Vermilion, is  a living history museum and folklife park that depicts the lifestyles of the Acadian, Native American and Creole people from the time period 1765 to 1890. In addition to local artisans that provide demonstrations of essential crafts of the early settlers, Vermilionville's Performance Center features Cajun Jam Sessions on Saturdays and live Cajun or Zydeco music and dancing on Sundays. Throughout the year, the calendar is filled with festivals, film series, boat tours, and workshops and presentations on a variety of subjects. Vermilionville.org

Local Breweries
The Lafayette area is home to three local breweries. Parish Brewing is an upstart operation that uses old-school techniques with German, Belgian and North American malted barley and other grains. Bayou Teche Brewing crafts beers that compliment local cuisine and lifestyle with names like LA-31 Bière Pâle, Boucanée, Passionné and Saison D'Ecrevisses. Both breweries have tap rooms and do tours. Lafayette's newest brewery, Cajun Brewing, opened for in October 2015. Their initial line of products includes three beer varieties: Cajun WIT, Ragin' Red Ale and Brown Ale. Future plans include a tap room where visitors can sample test batches and get a taste of new beers. ParishBeer.com | BayouTecheBrewing.com | CajunBrewing.com

Music 365
Any day of the week you visit Lafayette, you'll find live music somewhere. Randol's, Prejean's and Pont Breaux's feature Cajun or Zydeco music nightly. Blue Moon Saloon features a Cajun music jam session every Wednesday with live music Thursdays-Saturdays. At Vermilionville visitors enjoy Cajun jam sessions on Saturdays and Cajun/Zydeco dances on Sundays. In the Spring and Fall, family-oriented concert series fill the calendar Wednesdays through Fridays. For more on Lafayette's music scene, get a copy of the Lafayette Dancehalls brochure. Randols.com | Prejeans.com | PontBreauxCajunRestaurant.com | Vermilionville.org | BlueMoonPresents.com

Lâche Pas Boucherie Spreads Cajun Culture
Lafayette's Toby Rodriguez and his Lâche Pas Boucherie chefs are taking the Cajun Boucherie on the road for a two-year tour of the United States that started on May 22, 2016. They roll into each city armed with tools of the culinary trade and their Cajun ingenuity. Each stop on the tour will host 30 local chefs, who attend free of charge as students learning the craft of the Boucherie. A boucherie is traditionally a community gathering to harvest an animal to produce sausage, ham, boudin, chaudin, head cheese and more. The Lâche Pas Boucherie provides an opportunity for people to experience this food tradition along with Cajun music and culture. The boucherie schedule includes stops in: Santa Cruz, Calif., Portland, Ore., Seattle, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, New York, Richmond, Va., Raleigh, N.C., Grand Coteau, La., Atlanta, Birmingham, Ala., Miami, Cuba, Lafayette, La., New Orleans, Houston and Austin, Texas. Information and tickets are available by visiting www.lachepasboucherie.com. For more on the boucherie tradition, visit the Lafayette Travel blog at http://blog.lafayettetravel.com/category/food/boucherie/.

Contacts: Ben Berthelot, President & CEO, ben@lafayettetravel.com | Kelly Strenge, VP of Media Relations & Special Projects, kstrenge@lafayettetravel.com

PO Box 63066
Lafayette, Louisiana 70505

337-232-3737
800-346-1958 (US)
800-543-5340 (CAN)

www.LafayetteTravel.com
info@lafayettetravel.com