2018 Downtown Lake Charles Crawfish Festival

The Original Downtown Lake Charles Crawfish Festival returns Friday, April 13, to Sunday, April 15, to the Lake Charles Civic Center, 900 North Lakeshore Drive. There will be plenty of family fun, food, Zydeco and Cajun music, a parade, a midway carnival, and over 10,000 pounds of crawfish! The annual family-friendly event is held each year in April during Parkinson Awareness Month.

On Friday the carnival gates open at 4 p.m., with the Crawfish Scoot 5K through downtown Lake Charles kicking off at 6 p.m. On Saturday the carnival gates open at 11 a.m., and live entertainment kicks off at 11:30 a.m., with a crawfish eating contest set for 3 p.m.

There will be live music from Chester Daigle and City Heat, Jamie Bergeron and the Kickin' Cajuns, Geno Delafose, and Keith Franks and the Soileau Zydeco Band.

On Sunday the carnival gates open from 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

“We are excited to host this “spicy party with a purpose” event once again, benefiting the Eljay Foundation for Parkinson Syndrome Awareness. Our mission is to educate, support, and create awareness for the disease, which effects over 1.5 million people in America, said event director Eligha Guillory, Jr.”

The DownTown Lake Charles Crawfish Festival also promotes awareness of crawfish season, the history of it, and how the seafood industry has benefited Louisiana over the past 200 years.

Get your presale tickets early by purchasing them at www.downtowncrawfishfest.com. Also, contact Eligha Guillory, Jr. for more details at eligha@eljayfd.org.

Admission is $10, and kids 10 and under are admitted free. Crawfish, beverages, and other food items will be sold at an additional cost.