“There is something in October sets the gypsy blood astir.”

–William Bliss Carman A Vagabond Song

Barely reaching into October is the triumvirate of prizes, designated the Louisiana Film, Food and Music Prizes, respectfully. The Food and Music Prizes kick off Sept. 29, and the LA Film Prize launches the following day, Sept. 30, with all three edging into the month of October.

The Red River Revel opens its gates on Oct. 1.

Mid-month, BREW appears downtown with BREW Bash kicking off the weekend on Oct. 14, followed by BREW itself on Oct. 15.

And before the formal kick-off of the annual holiday season, Shreveport and Bossier City gets in the swing with a new event called PROOF that debuts while the Louisiana State Fair rolls along at the Fairgrounds.

Each of the events promises to be new and different this year, so veteran attendees can look forward to something unseen before.

The prizes kick off the month with an intense triple play weekend of audience participation in some of this area’s favorite pastimes – film, food and music. The brainchild of Gregory Kallenberg, the three prizes are his attempt, he said, to help create Shreveport and Bossier City “the way you want them to be.” His goal was to nurture an atmosphere of creativity and pride in this area to rival other cultural centers around the nation. A former journalist and filmmaker, Kallenberg decided to settle in this area to take on “the task of building an indigenous film community in Northwest Louisiana.”

Beginning Sept. 29, both the Food and Music Prize competitions begin.

The Louisiana Music Prize Fest is a mixture of concerts with national acts combined with a battle of the bands competition of emerging artists. The purpose is to walk away with a $5,000 prize. On Thursday night, five juried bands will compete for the prize and a chance to open on Saturday at the Red River Revel for Polyphonic Spree.

“We now have another 15 bands that will play throughout the weekend, which allows for someone to go the Film Prize and then attend the Music Prize at night,” Kallenberg said. He added, “The spirit of this thing was to create something that was a natural sort of facet to [the other events].” Best of all, the Music Prize is free this year.

Among the other big-named groups headed to the Festival are K. Flay, Beach Slang, Givers, The BlueBonnets and Kyle Craft.

The Louisiana Food Prize also gets under way on Sept. 29. It is the newest of the prizes and plays into Louisiana’s love of food, Kallenberg said. Five local chefs will vie for the big prize, but they will be rubbing shoulders with some huge names in the culinary world. Kallenberg said not only will the competing chefs get up close and personal with the celebrity chefs, but the audience will get an unprecedented opportunity to see the chefs in action and even talk with them as they create.

Then at 7 p.m. Sept. 30 in Louisiana Film Prize Fest Central (in front of artspace on Texas Street in Shreveport), local chefs John Strand, Darrell Johnson, Cindy Gleason Johnson, Monique Mosa Armand and Blake Jackson will open Mystery Baskets provided by Whole Foods Market and Slow Food North Louisiana. The baskets will contain ingredients that they will not have seen before. They will be tasked with creating an entrée plus either an appetizer or side dish to accompany the entrée, using only the ingredients in the mystery basket. Their efforts will be judged by the five acclaimed chefs. The winning menu and its creator will win $5,000 cash and the Louisiana Food Prize’s Golden Fork.

The event is free to the public. “It’s one of the most exciting and successful things we do,” Kallenberg said.

The Red River Revel began in 1976 as a gift from the Junior League to the region as a Bicentennial present. The goal has been to bring visual and performing arts to the public and has a history of attracting visitors from all over the region and thousands of out-of-state visitors. There are arts education programs for the youngsters in the visual arts, theater, dance, history, and physical and health education.

It’s been estimated that the overall economic impact of the festival is more than $10 million annually. This year the lineup is crammed with entertainment from big headliners to local budding stars. Updated information and a complete schedule of events are available at www. redriverrevel.com.

Next up in October is BREW and a new wrinkle, BREW Bash. Sponsored by Reinhart Foodservice, it will consist of a Burger Cook-Off event from 6-9 p.m. Oct. 14 at 101 Crockett St. in Shreveport. The competitors at Brew Bash will be cooking up their best burger for attendees, and they will in turn choose the winner to advance to the World Food Championships, according to a release from the company. In addition to sampling the creations of eight chefs, attendees will be able to sample beers created by over several homebrew masters. The World Food Championships takes place from Nov. 8 through 15 in Orange Beach, Ala., and brings together seasoned competition cooking teams and home cooks in the world’s largest “Food Sport” event. Hundreds of teams compete in nine food categories for a chance at a $100,000 grand prize and the title, World Food Champion.

Tickets for the event are $15 and are available online at shreveportbrew.com/ buy-tickets.

As the fast-paced, entertainment-filled month draws to a close, Downtown Shreveport Unlimited is partnering with the Red River Revel to present PROOF. The event is a high-end liquor-tasting featuring scotch, whiskey, bourbon and rum, according to Executive Director Melanie Bacon. She said there will be an extensive hors d’oeuvres buffet available with entertainment by pianist Chris McCaa.

“This event is going to be great,” Bacon said. “We’re going to have beer and wine for those disinclined to sample the harder stuff.” She said the best part of the evening is ticket holders will go home with their own personal cask of Elijah Craig bourbon specially blended for the event by the Heaven Hill Distillery company.

Even though LSU has a game that weekend, Bacon said they were taking no chances that football fans would stay away to root for their teams. There will be televisions under the cigar tent for the sports-minded.

“Music, pretty weather. I know it’s going to be beautiful under the stars – smoking a cigar, watching college football, doing whatever you want to do.”

Tickets for the event are $125 and are available at www.shreveportproof.com/ buy-tickets.

The month wraps up with the 110th edition of the State Fair of Louisiana. It runs from Oct. 27 through Nov. 13.