Bayou King Cake Festival makes changes after last year's crowds flooded downtown Thibodaux
Thibodaux's King Cake Festival is drawing near, and here's what you need to know.
After the Bayou King Cake Festival flooded downtown Thibodaux with more than 3,000 people last year, the shoulder-to-shoulder venue will be a little different this year, founder Deanna Lafont said. The festival will span five streets and run from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 27, starting just after the Children's Parade.
There will be many new features, such as a petting zoo, food trucks, children's stage, a small boat parade that the Thibodaux Krewes' royalty will arrive on, and the New Orleans Pelican's King Cake Baby Mascot will be attending. The Children's Parade that precedes it also will have a different route, starting on West Fourth Street and circling the block around West Third Street and traveling up and down Maronge and St. Louis streets.
"It's just a bigger, better-executed festival all around," Lafont said.
There will be three entrances to avoid long lines at the gate, and those who pre-purchase their admission can pick up their bracelets early at the following locations:
Lafourche Parish School Board Central Office, 805 E. Seventh St., Thibodaux.
Louisiana's Cajun Bayou Office, 4484 La 1, Raceland.
Galliano Elementary,148 West 158th St., Galliano.
Admission is $15 at the gate but can be preordered for $10 here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-bayou-king-cake-festival-and-krewe-of-king-cake-childrens-parade-tickets-686311053837?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Admission gets attendees an arm band. On the band is five tickets, each redeemable for one tasting of king cake. Additional tastings are $1 a piece. Along with the tickets comes a doubloon that attendees use to vote for their favorite king cake by giving it to one of the 50 teams serving up the Mardi Gras treat.
La 1 will be closed from 5 a.m. until 6 p.m. for the festival, and a shuttle will ferry attendees to and from the Warren J. Harang Municipal Auditorium from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., roughly every 20 minutes.
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King cake vendors will be on LA 1. The music stage will be on Green Street,. and the street also will have a kids' corner with games for children. The kids' stage will be on St. Louis Street. It will have performances by local organizations geared toward children.
Maronge Street will have food trucks and vendors for those hankering for more than just king cake, and drink stands will be on West Second Street.
These changes were made in response to the unexpected turnout last year, when the festival was flooded with more then 3,000 people turning up and swarming downtown Thibodaux. The massive turnout raised about $50,000 for the nonprofit Lafourche Education Foundation, which hosted the festival. The money is used for the many grants the nonprofit has for teachers. Grants can be applied for here: https://www.lafourcheeducation.com/grants.
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Bayou King Cake Festival unveils changes for downtown Thibodaux event
