HAUNTING GOOD FUN & COASTAL PRESERVATION AT HOUMA’S ROUGAROU FEST
By Merle Rosenstein
I’m in Houma, in Terrebonne Parish, the southernmost point in Louisiana, at the annual Rougarou Fest. The festival grounds open to a massive stage with the MJDardar Band, skillfully blending rhythm and blues, country, and soul music with a tune called ‘Dirty Mama’. An electric guitar unleashes a bouncing beat. The energy is contagious, with partygoers of all ages shimmying and shaking. It’s a rocking good time. But on a deeper level, it bridges folklore, environmental activism, and cultural pride.
Ranked among the best costume parties in the U.S., the Rougarou festival features elaborate parades, storytelling sessions, and a folklife village where visitors can try traditional crafts. But beyond the party, the event raises awareness of coastal conservation and much-needed funds for the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center (SLWDC). How did coastal erosion impact local culture and the connection to a fearsome swamp creature?
Coastline and Culture
Houma sits about 50 miles southwest of New Orleans, along the Gulf of Mexico. In Terrebonne Parish, land loss hits hard, destroying wildlife habitats and displacing families. The commonly cited land loss rate is staggering, a football field every 100 minutes. Storm surges are made worse by climate change, oil and gas pipelines, and levees that starve the land of sediment. The disappearing wetlands threaten the culture, traditional livelihoods such as fishing, trapping, and harvesting, and the landscapes that gave rise to stories like the Rougarou. The Rougarou Fest seeks to change some of that.
What is a Rougarou?
Cajun folklore has French roots, layered with African and Afro-Caribbean, Spanish, German, and Native American influences, among others. The tale of the Rougarou emerged from the Acadian community in eastern Canada, which faced expulsion by the British starting in 1755. In Louisiana, where the Acadians made new homes, their name was shortened to ‘Cajun’.
Stories of French immigrants took hold in the eerie quiet of the bayous. Cautionary characters evolved to enforce obedience and religious practices. The Rougarou takes the form of a human body with the head of a wolf or dog, cursed to live in this form for 101 days. With its menacing eyes and claw-like fingers, it was also invoked by parents to keep children in line and protect them from harm. The rapidly changing landscape of the bayous threatens these oral traditions.
As Jonathan Foret, Executive Director of the SLWDC, said, “We grew up with stories, and it’s part of the cultural ID. We live in a vulnerable area. It’s the stories and events that bring people together to build relationships. When storms hit, we rely on each other to put a blue tarp on your roof or muck out your house.”
Community Action
The SLWDC offers resources for science educators, a wetlands summit for youth, and a web app to document stories about culturally important locations threatened by land loss. It is funded through private donations, grants, and fundraisers. One such fundraiser is the Rougarou Fest, an idea of Foret’s.
According to Foret, “When I grew up, my grandma used to say, ‘You better come in before the streetlights come on or the Rougarou’s gonna get you’.” It’s a tale that was used to make children behave. Foret noticed that kids were not familiar with the Rougarou. “These were children in the bayou communities, and this is a part of their culture and folklore, so we wanted to keep those oral traditions alive to celebrate that during the festival. “
Getting the next generation of kids to connect with the stories of people from the bayou is important to Foret. As he said, “Our version of the Rougarou is like Smokey the Bear. The message is, only you can save coastal Louisiana. The Rougarou has become more of our mascot for environmental stewardship, like he’s out there protecting the swamp. He’s less fierce than the Rougarou I grew up with.” Foret is keen to keep stories relevant for future generations. A walk around the festival grounds confirms the success of this vision.
Rougarou Fest 2025 and Cultural Pride
The jam-packed festival featured many activities tied to Cajun cultural heritage. Volunteers offered up food they had cooked themselves, using recipes handed down for generations in bayou communities. I chowed down on turtle soup, gator bites (they taste like chicken), and blackberry dumplings.
The grounds were thick with swamp witches, sporting moss-draped, black, orange, and purple gowns, brandishing broomsticks topped with skulls, instilling fear in passersby. The 2025 Rougarou Queen, Shannon Bella, wore a gorgeous red full-length dress with black nettle at the hemline, and a pearl-encrusted tiara with shimmering red and white leaves. The costume was in line with the theme, “In the Red”, the color used on maps to indicate the loss of about 2,000 square miles of Louisiana’s coast.
I waited in line to hold Neuty the nutria, a 22-pound rescued rodent, feeling his short brown fur against my arms. Nutria eat native plants that bind the marsh together. A bounty on nutria means that hunters earn $6 per tail. Neuty was pardoned at Rougarou Fest, spared from the stew pot, while making visitors aware of invasive species.
Coastal restoration projects, wetland ecology, and climate change and land loss were front and centre through interactive displays, native plant giveaways, and storytelling sessions. Younger audiences played games to understand the importance of wetlands and wildlife conservation. The festival also honored local cultural and coastal champions, whose work bridges environmental activism and cultural preservation.
A Folklife Village brought to life the rich traditions of southern Louisiana with cooking demonstrations, basket weaving, boat-building, wood carving, and palmetto hut building. I sat down with locals in a circle at the Dulac French Table to try my rusty French. When I explained that I was Canadian, I was welcomed with open arms.
The Rougarou Fest’s approach, blending fun, folklore, education, and community action, makes coastal conservation informative and deeply personal.
If you go:
– The official hotel of Rougarou Fest 2025, the Courtyard by Marriott in Houma, offered a discounted rate. It was steps from the festival.
– A-Bear’s Cafe is a local hangout with Cajun specialties.
– Visit the gators at Greenwood Gator Farm.
– Boudreau and Thibideau’s Cajun Cooking serves fresh seafood daily.
– Grab a coffee at Downtown Jeaux in Houma and visit the sets of Where the Crawdads Sing.
– Check out the Regional Military Museum in Houma.
– Take a hike on the Mandalay Nature Trail.
– Visit the nearby town of Franklin, and tour the Cajun Coast.
How many people can say that their second home is in Hawaii? And that wine, beer, and spirits are their family business? Merle Rosenstein can. She is a freelance travel, wine, and food writer from Toronto, Canada, with Level 2 Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET) certification. Her dad was a traveling liquor salesman, her partner worked for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), and her daughter worked for a major beer company. She has toured wineries across Chile, sipped Rioja in Spain, and interviewed winemakers in Tuscany. You can catch up with Merle at https://superbubbie.ca/, and follow her adventures on Facebook and Instagram.
