Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau

09/13/2026

Cast iron in Centerville and outboards on the basin: Saturday the 19th has both.

The week gets there at its own pace. Bingo fills three evenings: two at the VFW of Morgan City, 7 to 9 on Monday and Tuesday, and one Thursday at the Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department, where the first game starts at 7 with doors at 5:30. Thursday evening, Kiwanis of East St. Mary holds its Wild Game Appreciation Dinner at the Morgan City Municipal Auditorium, 6:30 to 8:30, for the children of East St. Mary Parish.

Friday, Holy Cross Catholic Church in Morgan City welcomes a first-class relic of St. John Paul II, with Mass at 5:30 and veneration from 6:30 to 9:30. Friday also starts the Sidewalk Art Showdown, which runs through October 16: youth ambassadors with the St. Mary Parish Youth Prevention Coalition are creating sidewalk art with messages of hope across the parish, and anyone can take part.

If you are struggling, call or text 988 for the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline.

Saturday is full. The 2nd Annual Cars and Coffee comes to O'Reilly Auto Parts in Morgan City. The Berwick Branch Library holds Baby Safety from 10 to noon, free, with local presenters, resources, story time and a car seat giveaway. The Cast Iron Cookoff runs 10 to 2 at the Centerville Knights of Columbus Hall. The 2026 DSRA Race Atchafalaya Nationals open their gates at 10 at the Joe C. Russo Memorial Boat Landing in Morgan City, and the racing carries into Sunday. That night, Rod and Riley play live music at One80 Downtown in Berwick, 7 to 10, free.

Times and places for everything: https://cajuncoast.com/events

09/12/2026

Saturday starts at 8 and ends by candlelight.

Golfers go first: The Mission Golf Tournament has the morning, 8 to noon (cancelled due to weather). The Cub Scout Showcase, hosted by Cub Scout Pack 438, fills 8:30 to 3:30 at the Morgan City Auditorium and is open to all families and to youth from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Two markets carry the late morning. Halloween and Thanksgiving are the theme this time at the Berwick Town Market, which runs 9 to 1 Under the Bridge in Berwick. The Tractor Supply Farmers Market brings local goods from community vendors to Tractor Supply on Hwy 90 in Morgan City from 10 to 2.

At 6:30 the St. Mary Parish Youth Prevention Coalition holds the 2nd Annual Light the Night: Candlelight Vigil and Walk of Hope at the Patterson Community Center, until 8:30. The evening remembers those lost to su***de and stands with survivors, families and loved ones.

If you are struggling, call or text 988 for the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline.

Every listing, with times: https://cajuncoast.com/events

09/11/2026

Looking for a little live music tonight? 🎶

Head to downtown Berwick and enjoy an evening with No Prob Llamas at One80 Downtown! The acoustic duo, Stephanie and Phil, will be playing from 7–10 p.m. on Canton Street.

Grab a seat, enjoy the music, and make a night of it.

09/11/2026

Lake End Park is a treasure on the coast. Make plans to camp soon!

There's a little waterfront escape in Morgan City where south Louisiana seems to slow down around sunset.

Lake End Park sits along Lake Palourde, giving visitors a place to camp, relax beside the water and experience a quieter side of the Atchafalaya region.

And that sunset?

That's the reason to stay late.

When the wind settles, the lake can reflect the evening sky while cypress trees and boats create one of those unmistakably Louisiana scenes that doesn't need much editing.

Morgan City sits near the heart of a landscape shaped by water.

The Atchafalaya Basin is nearby.

Bayous run throughout the region.

Fishing, boating, seafood and the energy industry have all played important roles in local life.

Lake Palourde is part of that watery world.

Lake End Park provides a much easier way to experience it than disappearing deep into a swamp.

The park offers camping and recreational opportunities along the lake, and its waterfront setting has made it a familiar destination for local families and travelers.

But this isn't the kind of place where you need an itinerary.

Bring something to eat.

Find a spot near the water.

Watch the boats.

Wait for sunset.

Done.

Louisiana has a habit of making ordinary evenings look spectacular when water is involved.

And Morgan City has plenty of water.

Visitors rushing toward New Orleans or Lafayette can easily overlook communities like this.

That's unfortunate.

Because sometimes the places that tell you the most about Louisiana aren't the giant attractions.

They're the places where local people go when they simply want to sit beside the water.

09/10/2026

The sun sets a little earlier every evening now. On the water, you notice it first.

It is still warm, the way September usually is down here. But the light comes in lower, and the cypress go dark against the sky while you are still out there watching.

If you have been waiting on summer to ease up before getting back out on a lake, this is the start of it. Bring a chair to the bank or a paddle to the water, and give it the last hour of the day.

Stay the night, and you get the first hour too.

We invite you to come experience the Mystically Beautiful Cajun Coast.

Find a paddling trail: https://cajuncoast.com/activities/paddling-trails/

Photo: Jaime

09/09/2026

There is an acoustic duo playing Berwick on Friday called No Prob Llamas.

Stephanie and Phil are a couple, and this is their new act. They play One80 Downtown on Canton Street from 7 to 10. That is Friday on the calendar, and it is reason enough to drive over.

Saturday is where the weekend puts its weight, and it starts early. The Mission Golf Tournament goes off at 8 and is done by noon. Half an hour behind it, Cub Scout Pack 438 opens the Cub Scout Showcase at the Morgan City Auditorium, running to 3:30 and open to all families and to youth from kindergarten through fifth grade. The Berwick Town Market sets up Under the Bridge from 9 until 1, and this round's theme is Halloween and Thanksgiving, which tells you how fast the year is moving.

Saturday closes differently. At 6:30 the Patterson Community Center gives two hours to the 2nd Annual Light the Night: Candlelight Vigil and Walk of Hope, held by the St. Mary Parish Youth Prevention Coalition. It is an evening about su***de prevention and mental health, and about bringing people together in support and solidarity.

If you are struggling, call or text 988 for the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline.

All of it, with times: https://cajuncoast.com/events

Photo: Tim Mueller

09/08/2026

We agree! You can never have too much shrimp!

Make sure to buy your tickets and plan your weekend staycation on the Cajun Coast! While you're in town you can make your way through the Shrimply Delicious Food Trail!

Check out cajuncoast.com/stay for all our accommodations in St Mary Parish.

🎟️ Only tickets left! Get yours today!!

09/07/2026

Under the Bridge is open one more day.

Diving and ROV museum tours go on the hour from 10. The Cajun Culinary Classic opens at 11, the rides at noon. Cliff Hillebran has Music in the Park at noon, and South 70 takes it at 2:30.

Then it is all last calls. The Marketplace closes at 5, the Culinary Classic at 7, and the rides stay lit until 9 tonight.

Today is also the last day of the Artist Guild Unlimited 62nd Annual Show and Sale, 11 to 5 at 201 Everett Street. Five o'clock is the last of it.

A festival named for sh*****ng and the oil industry, closing out on Labor Day. Somebody got that right.

Shuttles run from the hotels.

Full schedule: https://cajuncoast.com/s&p

09/07/2026

We agree! We think it’s a gem for Franklin and St. Mary Parish!

❤️ Learning More About Louisiana ❤️

🤩 Teche Theater - Franklin 🤩

🍿 This is a picture I took of the Teche Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Franklin, Louisiana.

🎥 It has quite a story.

🍿 The Teche opened in 1940 as a grand single-screen movie palace.

🎥 Historic-theater sources date its opening to March 23, 1940, with the Kay Kyser comedy That’s Right, You’re Wrong.

🍿 With about 800 seats, it was promoted at the time as one of the most luxurious theaters in South Louisiana.

🎥 Architecturally, it’s a great example of Streamline Moderne/Art Deco design.

🍿 The vertical center section, geometric decoration, glass-block elements and bold red, tan and dark accents are all part of that late-1930s/early-1940s theater look.

🎥 Franklin’s own historic-district guidelines specifically point to the Teche as an example of Art Deco design with strong vertical emphasis and stylized geometric details.

🍿 The theater was designed by the Louisiana architectural firm Favrot & Reed for the Lauve-Bodin Amusement Company.

🎥 Its heyday stretched roughly from the 1940s into the 1960s and early 1970s, when going downtown to the movies was a major social event.

🍿 A neat bit of local history: an archival account notes that Shinn’s, a nearby restaurant, was a popular place for moviegoers to grab a hamburger after a show.

🎥 Like many old single-screen theaters, the Teche eventually struggled as multiplexes and changing moviegoing habits took over.

🍿 It closed as a regular movie theater around the late 1980s.

🎥 Franklin later acquired the building, and after restoration it reopened around 2001 as a performing-arts center.

🌀 Hurricane Lili caused substantial damage in 2002, forcing another restoration, and the theater reopened again in 2003.

🍿 Today, the Teche is very much alive.

🎥 It operates as a professional community theater, presenting plays, musicals, concerts, arts education and special events while also helping bring visitors into historic downtown Franklin.

🍿 Its regular programming has included fall and spring productions, Black History productions, summer musicals and special shows.

⭐️ Recent Marquee ⭐️

🎥 The marquee says “Welcome LA64 & Laine Hardy — March 20 6PM.”

🍿 Laine Hardy appeared there in concert on March 20, 2026.

🎥 The theater is doing exactly what it was saved to do bringing people back downtown for a show.

🍿 That huge old marquee and the tall center tower are really what make the Teche special.

🎥 It’s one of those surviving small-town Louisiana theaters where you can still picture people lining Main Street on a Saturday night 70 or 80 years ago.

09/07/2026

Monday is the last day of the 91st. The marketplace runs 9 to 5, the Cajun Culinary Classic to 7, Cliff Hillebran plays the park at noon and South 70 follows at 2:30. It is also the last day of the Artist Guild Unlimited 62nd Annual Show and Sale on Everett Street, which has been open since the 2nd.

After that the week keeps a quieter rhythm, and there is more of it than you would think. Bingo runs four nights: the VFW in Morgan City on Monday and Tuesday, 7 to 9. The Amelia Volunteer Fire Department on Wednesday, doors at 6 and the first game at 7, kitchen open. The Bayou Vista Volunteer Fire Department on Thursday, doors at 5:30 and the first game at 7. Wednesday also brings a mahjong lesson at The French Door in Franklin, 7 to 9, for beginners and regulars both. Friday, Stephanie and Phil play One80 Downtown in Berwick as No Prob Llamas, 7 to 10.

Then Saturday the 12th stacks four, and three of them run in daylight. The Cub Scout Showcase runs 8:30 to 3:30 at the Morgan City Auditorium, open to families and to children from kindergarten through fifth grade, with outdoor cooking and knot tying. The Mission Golf Tournament tees off at 8 and plays to noon. The Berwick Town Market runs 9 to 1 Under the Bridge in Berwick, themed Halloween and Thanksgiving this round.

That evening the St. Mary Parish Youth Prevention Coalition holds the 2nd Annual Light the Night: Candlelight Vigil and Walk of Hope at the Patterson Community Center, 6:30 to 8:30. A night of remembrance for those we have lost to su***de, and of support for survivors, families and loved ones.

If you are struggling, call or text 988 for the Su***de and Crisis Lifeline.

All of it, with times: https://cajuncoast.com/events

Photo: Tim Mueller