The Louisiana Pirate Festival, Formally known as Contraband Days, is a 12-day festival filled with

Cajun food Cajun cuisine (french: cuisine cadienne , es, cocina acadiense) is a style of cooking developed by the Cajun–Acadians who were deported from Acadia to Louisiana during the 18th century and who incorporated West African, French and Spanish coo ...

, family fun, and festivities. Occurring annually in Lake Charles, it is among the larger celebrations in

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a U.S. state, state in the Deep South and South Central United States, South Central regions of the United States. It is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 20th-smal ...

, with an attendance of over 200,000. The Festival was first held in 1957. Held during the first two weeks of May, Contraband Days is the city's official celebration of the legend of the

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

Jean Lafitte Jean Lafitte ( – ) was a French pirate and privateer who operated in the Gulf of Mexico in the early 19th century. He and his older brother Pierre spelled their last name Laffite, but English language documents of the time used "Lafitte". Thi ...

. History tells that Lafitte and his band of pirates frequented the area's waterways; they are said to have buried Lafitte's contraband somewhere in the city's vicinity. The Pirate Festival festivities kick off every year with a pirate ship bombardment to "take control of the city" at the seawall of the Lake Charles Civic Center. A gang of rowdy and unruly buccaneers and "Jean Lafitte" overruns the blazing

cannon A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder duri ...

s of the local militia. They then raise their "Jolly Roger" flag and capture the mayor by force with swords drawn and make the mayor walk the plank into the waters of the lake. No festival was held in 2020. Thus begins the two-weeks of pageantry and festivities, which include: *Evening

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...

*Fireworks shows *Carnival midway *Entertainment on three stages *Sailing regatta *Cajun cuisine *Contests *Beach games *Thrill attractions *Many fun-packed competitions, including bed races, bathtub races, and crawfish races *Nationally-sanctioned speedboat races *Family night

References

External links

Official Contraband Days website History
{{coord missing, Louisiana Festivals in Louisiana Lake Charles, Louisiana Tourist attractions in Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana Recurring events established in 1957 1957 establishments in Louisiana