The State Fair of Louisiana offers good gumbo of fun
Football, zydeco music, thrilling rides and games of all kinds all go together like a good pot of zesty
gumbo at this year's State Fair of Louisiana, Oct. 21-Nov. 7. Fair organizers have simply outdone themselves this year.
For the first time, the Shreveport Classic will be played in conjunction with the fair. Texas' Prairie
View A&M Panthers will take on the Southern University Jaguars, Oct. 23 at the nearby
Independence Stadium.
The halftime showdown of the two bands will be as competitive as the gridiron action between the two powerhouse football teams.
There will be big fun under the big top with a daily circus and an exciting midway of 60 rides including the
Expo Wheel, Cliff Hangar and more. What's a fair without turkey legs, nachos, funnel cakes, popcorn and other
great festival foods? And, yes, you can probably even find a great bowl of gumbo. Come get your fill of it.
Take a camel ride and encounter elephants and tigers at this year's Ultimate Safari. Other events and
performances include PJ the Clown, Balloon-a-tics, Washboard Willy, and more.
If that's not enough, there will be 14 days of toe-tapping, hip-swaying music - free. Some of the featured
bands include the Dixie Traditions, the Bellamy Brothers, Wayne Toups & Zydecajuns, and Midnight Star.
Check the
State Fair's website for a complete list of entertainment.
More exciting fair firsts are...
read the entire article.
Come see what the BREWhaha is all about
Are you a self-proclaimed "beer connoisseur?" Do you love to eat great foods and drink different beers? Are you ready to Revel
in the Madness? If you can relate to that, you won't want to miss BREW...A Premier Beer Tasting event, Oct. 16.
Spend the afternoon, at this one-day event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., sampling internationally acclaimed and domestically
micro-brewed ales, pilsners, stouts and everything in between. In addition to great music, some of the area's finest restaurants
including
Columbia Café,
Tiger Bites, and
Café at Artspace will be offering
free samples of their signature dishes.
"There is a wide variety of beers to sample, there is plenty of seating and the atmosphere is electric," said Melanie Bacon,
Downtown Shreveport Unlimited executive director and a festival organizer.
Few people know this, but Shreveport-Bossier has two local brewer clubs - Malt Munching Mash Monsters and S.U.D.S. They will be on
hand with their special beers and you can taste other unusual and more obscure brews like "Jack's Pumpkin Spice Ale" or
"Widmer Brother's Drifter Pale Ale."
For more information about pricing
click here.
Pumpkin Shine on Line: A Fall tradition
He stands at attention, arm raised in salute to his country, the letters "USA" proudly displayed on his uniform. A few feet
away from him is a gigantic candy apple. A little bit further down is a pink dog, spotted brown, sitting next to her dog house.
And next to her is a pumpkin painted in many different colors.
Well, to be fair, they are all pumpkins, and they are all part of the Pumpkin Shine on Line event, 5-7:30 p.m., Oct. 27. The
trails in and around
Betty Virginia Park are lined
with nearly a thousand jack-o-laterns for this 19th annual event.
This community service project is sponsored by Southfield School and Shreveport Public Assembly and Recreation (SPAR). The event
was started in 1992 so the community could enjoy Halloween and jack-o-lanterns in a safe environment. Betty Virginia Park was
adopted by Southfield as their school park.
This event is free and will have pizza, soda, and other concessions available for purchase. Proceeds from the concessions go back
into beautifying and updating Betty Virginia Park. The school hopes to eventually create a commissioned pumpkin sculpture at the
entry of the park.
Visitors can park at
Mall St. Vincent and
ride the free shuttle. The rain date is Thursday, October 28, at the same time.
For more information, call Melanie Johnson at 318-868-8773 or Gail Brown at 318-869-2918 or
visit them online.
Click here to view a map.
