Happy Birthday Bayou State!

Upon logging on this morning to Facebook, there were countless posts wishing Louisiana  a happy 200^th Birthday, as today marks the date it was admitted to the Union as our 18^th state. The Louisiana Restaurant Association also wished our state a resounding Happy Birthday.

To officially celebrate the occasion, the Office of the Lt. Governor held the Louisiana Family Homecoming Celebration Festival on the State Capitol grounds in Baton Rouge, April 28. Hundreds gathered to celebrate Louisiana’s food, music and history in honor of Louisiana’s Bicentennial.  

Naturally, food was central to the celebration as our cuisine marks one of the most notable traditions our state offers. Fare included cracklins, jambalaya, crawfish etouffee and even deep-fried king cake. While this celebration was underway, so was the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans and the Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette. It was all about the food and music this past weekend in Louisiana.

For more than a year, many projects and events have been planned for Louisiana residents to celebrate all that our beloved state has to offer and importantly, what we have to share with the world. The LRA was a member of the Commission’s Foodways Committee, which created a series of banners that will travel the state spreading the historic value of our cuisine.

Also, Southern Food and Beverage Museum Founder and President Liz Williams will be penning a series of articles for a la carte magazine, the association’s official publication for Louisiana’s foodservice professional, the first—Coffee, Louisiana’s Gateway, appears here. The second installment in our spring issue will share the history of Louisiana’s agricultural offerings, followed by Louisiana seafood in the summer. The final installment, just in time for the holidays, will cover the state’s many confections.

A tree-planting ceremony was held this morning at A.Z. Young park at the corner of Third and Lafayette Streets in Baton Rouge and this afternoon, the Bicentennial Commission, headed by General Russell Honore, will unveil a new U.S. Postal Stamp featuring a photograph depicting Flat Lake cypress trees adorned with Spanish Moss in the Atchafalaya Basin.

What will you do to commemorate Louisiana’s statehood?