BELOVED FESTIVAL CELEBRATES 30 YEARS OF CRAWFISH, MUSIC AND COMMUNITY

By Kelly Phelan Powell | Photos special to The Forum | Cover photo by Lora Fairchild | Opening Image: Crawfish from Shaver’s sit on top of past Mudbug Madness coverage in The Forum.

By May, “crawfish season,” as the locals refer to it, is in full swing. And for 29 years, its culmination has been Mudbug Madness, held over four days each Memorial Day weekend in Festival Plaza in downtown Shreveport.

But this year, for the 30th anniversary of Mudbug Madness, organizers want to give something really special to the residents of Shreveport-Bossier City to thank them for over a quarter of a century of support and enthusiasm.

Melanie Bacon, director of Downtown Shreveport Unlimited, a private, nonprofit membership organization that serves as an advocacy group for Downtown Shreveport and produces Mudbug Madness, said, “Since this is our 30th anniversary and the community has been so good to us, we’ll give them something special to remember.”

Begun in 1984, “Mudbug Madness is a celebration of our Creole culture and heritage, and it is a tribute to the crawfish, of course,” Bacon said. “The purpose is to bring a little bit of South Louisiana to Shreveport- Bossier.”

Chairman Terri Mathews, who has worked with Mudbug Madness for 22 years, added, “[It’s] a music and food festival. We have, in the last couple of years, become more credible with the arts as well. It’s North Louisiana’s tribute to our Creole and Cajun heritage, our South Louisiana heritage.” And, of course, one of the region’s favorite pastimes, the crawfish boil.

Mudbug Madness has evolved over the years, but two aspects have remained constant: The food is mouthwatering, and the music is world-class. In fact, Mudbug Madness is now nationally recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events, drawing as many as 56,000 people in one day. Thursday through Sunday, the Metro PCS Stage will see the likes of Professor Porkchop & The Dirty Dishes, David Egan & 20 Years of Trouble, Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience, Amanda Shaw & The Cute Guys and Wayne Toups & ZyDeCajun. “Some of these are nationally known, Grammy Award-winning musical acts,” Mathews said.

The Swamp Stage will host local favorites Twang Darkly, Bushrod Jenkins and Cody Cooke and The Bayou Outlaws, along with many others. “We’ve got a really good mix of entertainment,” Bacon said. “Our headliners are artists people are craving to see.”

A sensational new facet of Mudbug Madness comes in the form of the USA Wakeboard Collegiate Nationals. The 2013 Alt Games Collegiate Nationals will be held May 24-26 on the Red River, and CBS Sports will film this fast-paced water sports event with Mudbug Madness as its backdrop. The competition will conclude 4 p.m. Sunday, and the winner will be announced from the Metro PCS stage at 5 p.m.

This extra dose of publicity for Mudbug Madness will likely help it raise even more money than it has in years past. Mudbug Madness is the principle fundraiser for Downtown Shreveport Unlimited, which fosters and supports quality-of-life events in downtown Shreveport such as festivals and entertainment. It also grants money to smaller up-and-coming festivals, events and entertainment in the downtown area such as the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta, the Let the Good Times Roll Festival and the Shreveport Farmers’ Market. It also supports community traditions such as Christmas lighting downtown and safety in the form of the Caddo Sheriff’s Mounted Patrol, a volunteer unit made up of regular, reserve and auxiliary deputies who provide their own horses, western tack, trucks and trailers.

Often confused with the Downtown Development Authority, DSU is a completely separate entity whose mission is different from but complementary to the DDA’s. Bacon said the DDA is a quasi-governmental organization funded through the taxes levied on downtown properties, whereas DSU is a private, nonprofit membership organization that raises money via membership dues, BREW (in partnership with the Red River Revel) and this year, The ShamROCK, Shreveport-Bossier’s first “color” 5K and St. Patrick’s Day block party, hosted by and benefitting both DSU and Cohab.

“Everything we do is for the betterment of downtown,” Bacon said. “They [the DDA] do it through bricks and mortar, and we do it through qualityof-life events like Mudbug Madness.

DDA makes the process easy to move downtown and build downtown.”

“DDA has done a great job developing downtown, and we come in as DSU and support their quality of life and things for them to do. DSU showcases downtown,” Mathews said.

But supporting the quality of life in downtown Shreveport isn’t the only way DSU benefits the community. Bacon said an economic development study concluded that 37 percent of Mudbug Madness festivalgoers came directly to Shreveport-Bossier City for that event, and it impacts every aspect of the economy. “We bring a really good dynamic here for Memorial Day weekend when a lot of locals go out of town,” she said.

Mudbug Madness also supports other local businesses. “Throughout Mudbug, we do our best to partner with local vendors [for food, crafts and art],” Bacon said. “We try to keep the money home, rather than contracting with larger companies outside the region.”

As far as Bacon and Mathews are concerned, the most exciting way Mudbug Madness is giving back to the Shreveport- Bossier City community is through this year’s 30th anniversary fireworks show, sponsored by the Shreveport Regional Airport. “It’s kind of our gift back to the community for supporting us all these years,” Mathews said.

At 8:45 p.m. May 26, festivalgoers will be treated to a fireworks show that’s the first of its kind in Shreveport. It employs new pyrotechnic technology that results in fireworks with less fallout, so technicians can safely shoot them from rooftops. “It will have the ‘wow’ factor,” Mathews said. “It will close us out with, pardon the pun, a bang.”

As Mudbug Madness celebrates 30 years this Memorial Day weekend, Bacon and Mathews are reflecting on the festival’s beginnings and contemplating its bright future. Mathews said of her fellow committee members and volunteers, “It’s a committee [that has] been together for a long time – most of us have worked together for 12 to 20 years.”

Bacon thinks it’s telling that the event’s title sponsor, CenterPoint Energy, has been with them for 15 years, the sort of relationship that’s rare in the world of fundraising.

Mudbug Madness 2013 WHEN: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. May 23-26 WHERE: Festival Plaza Admission is free until 5 p.m. After 5, it’s just $5. Children under 12 are admitted for free as are those who show a military I.D. For more details, parking information and shuttle service, visit http://mudbugmadness.com.

Entertainment Lineup: Find the full schedule of entertainment on the Mudbug Madness website, mudbugmadness.com. See a full listing of Mudbug Madness events in Talk of the Town on Page 38.