Mansura to go 'hog wild' at 43rd Cochon de Lait Festival, Thursday-Sunday

Mansura will go “hog wild” once again for the 43rd annual Cochon de Lait festival this Thursday-Sunday (May 11-14) in downtown Mansura.

Festivities will begin Thursday with family night. Carnival armbands will be sold for $20 each and will allow the purchaser to enjoy rides from 5-10 p.m.

On Friday, the carnival, arts & crafts booths and food vendors will open at 5 p.m. The street dance will open at 6 p.m. Lee’s Last Stand will perform at 8:30 p.m. on the Paragon Casino Resort stage.

The cost to enter the street dance will be $5 for adults and $2 for children.

The Cochon de Lait Fest will be in full swing on Saturday, with a day filled with activities.

The day will begin at 10 a.m. with the opening of the food vendors and arts and crafts area. The annual Cochon de Lait Festival Parade will roll at 10:30 a.m. The theme for this year’s parade will be “Peace, Love and Pork.” Entry is free and all floats are asked to decorate in the theme. Trophies will be awarded during the festival.

Visitors can purchase all festival gear at the souvenir booth, including T-shirts, caps, visors, koozies, beer mugs and coffee mugs.

This year the popular “pig face and rear-end” T-shirts will be available in adult sizes. This allows others to see that festival-goers support the Cochon de Lait “coming and going.” These shirts are available in V-neck for the ladies and moisture wicking for the guys.

The 2nd annual cracklin’ cook-off will begin at 11 a.m. Cost to enter is $30 per team. Members of the two-member teams must be 16 or older. Those under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Teams must prepare 15 pounds of cracklins for judging. Cooking will begin at 11 a.m. and end by 3 p.m. The team must be on site by 10 a.m. to set up. Cracklins to be judged will be turned in by 3 p.m.

This year’s festival will feature a children’s “pig pen” area for ages 10 and under. The area will be located at the Mansura Walking Track and will feature free activities for the children.

There will be a variety of contests from noon to 5 p.m. Contests will include the children and adult hog calling, ladies and mens beer drinking and boudin eating. All contests, except the greasy pig chases, will be held at the Paragon Casino Resort stage throughout the day.

The street dance will open at 5 p.m. Saturday. The Parker James Trio will perform at 5:30 p.m., followed by Simmesport native Charley Rivers at 7 p.m. The evening will end with headliner Lil’ Nathan and the Zydeco Big Timers taking the stage at 9:30 p.m.

Cost of entry into the street dance on Saturday night will be $7 for adults and $2 for children. On Sunday the festival opens at 10 a.m. and is also a family day with all-day-ride armbands sold for $20. The Cochon de Lait Grand Feast dinners will be sold in the pavilion at a cost of $9 each.

No pets, ice chests or glass containers are allowed at festival.

For more information, visit the festival website at www.cochondelaitfestival.com or the Cochon de Lait Festival Facebook page.