Louisiana's Festival Season is underway

Today marks the start of the 26^th Annual Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette and the weather promises clear skies. Festival International was formed in 1986 to produce an annual visual and performing arts festival celebrating the French cultural heritage of Southern Louisiana—primarily a combination of French, African, Caribbean and Hispanic influences. The festival, unlike the competing New Orleans Jazz and HeritageFestival is free to attend.

A diverse array of culinary offerings is found throughout downtown Lafayette from April 25-29 in seven pavilions, named for festival sponsors Popeyes, Chevron and Malibu Rum among others.

Fezzo's Restaurant will serve 5,000 portions of it's signature
Festival International de Louisiane
fried catfish with seafod etouffee.

If you have a craving for traditional Cajun fare like crawfish etouffee, shrimp and tasso pasta, alligator sauce piquante, boudin and more, this five day feast is for you.

“We’ve been participating in Festival International for nine years,” said Phil Faul, Louisiana Restaurant Association member and owner of Fezzo’s. “We didn’t expect to make any money. We just wanted people to try our food when we were just starting out.”

During the five-day festival, Fezzo’s will serve more than 5,000 portions of its signature fried catfish topped with seafood etouffee. The response in the early years was so good, he had to add it to the menu at Fezzo’s due to the volume of requests for what he served at the festival.

Lafayette’s Middle Eastern restaurants will offer hummus, pitas, gyros, falafel, biryani and Indian samosas to name just a glimpse at what one can enjoy while taken in the sounds of more than 100 world music acts including Cajun and Zydeco.