By Chris Jay
Public relations manager
Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau
Located in the northwestern corner of Louisiana, Shreveport-Bossier is home to a thriving nightlife and entertainment scene, a year-round calendar of festivals and cultural events, a burgeoning culinary scene and opportunities to explore the great outdoors. In this city, there’s always something new to experience.
You’ll find it a crossroads where Louisiana’s Cajun and Creole traditions meet the wide-open spirit of Texas. When it comes to dining, Texas-style barbecue often shares a plate with traditional Louisiana favorites like gumbo, po-boys and crawfish etouffee. In its nightclubs, jazz and soul share the stage with blues, country, rock and zydeco. Local festivals celebrate everything from crawfish to black history in year-round opportunities that highlight it area’s blend of cultures.
Follow the footsteps of music legends
Shreveport Municipal Auditorium was home to the legendary Louisiana Hayride radio broadcast from 1948 to 1960, where Elvis Presley made his performance debut on Oct. 16, 1954. Visitors come from around the world to tour the building and see the statue of Presley outside of the auditorium on Elvis Presley Boulevard. Blues legend Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter was born just outside of Shreveport, and his gravesite at Shiloh Baptist Church Cemetery in Mooringsport is a destination for blues aficionados. Other Shreveport-Bossier music legends include country singer Claude King, guitar legend James Burton, blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, country superstar Kix Brooks and jazz drummer Brian Blade.
Try your luck
Shreveport-Bossier’s six riverboat casinos and live horse racing track lend 24-hour excitement to the city’s entertainment offerings. Many of the casinos are centrally located in downtown Shreveport and Bossier City, along the riverfront. Located just south of the Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets on the banks of the Red River, Horseshoe Casino and Hotel is home to the Horseshoe Riverdome, one of Shreveport-Bossier’s hottest live music venues. Legendary performers like Willie Nelson, Smokey Robinson, The Beach Boys and Diana Ross have recently brought their world tours to the Horseshoe Riverdome.
Get close to nature
Enjoying the great outdoors can take many forms in Shreveport-Bossier, from a relaxing trip down the Red River aboard the Spirit of the Red River Cruise to zip-lining through a swamp filled with live alligators at Gators and Friends Alligator Park and Exotic Zoo. One of Louisiana’s top bird-watching destinations, the Red River National Wildlife Refuge in Bossier City, features a 6.5-mile network of hiking trails, a lake for fishing and an interpretive center offering interactive educational programs for all ages. Walter B. Jacobs Memorial Nature Park in Shreveport also offers an outstanding network of trails, including wheelchair-accessible trails. Those who love to hike, bike or jog should make time to enjoy the scenic riverfront biking and jogging paths that wind their way along Clyde Fant Parkway in downtown Shreveport and Arthur Ray Teague Parkway in Bossier City.
Take in the history
For those who enjoy traveling “off of the beaten path,” Shreveport-Bossier is an entry point for travel along Louisiana’s Boom or Bust Byway, a scenic byway that winds its way through historic rural communities like Oil City, Plain Dealing and Homer. Smartphone users can download a GPS-driven historic tour of the area by searching for the free “N LA Byways” app in iTunes or Google Play. Travelers can also check out a handheld device at the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau at 629 Spring Street in downtown Shreveport.
And the cuisine
Several Shreveport-Bossier eateries are among the best known in Louisiana. Strawn’s Eat Shop, a mom and pop diner with celebrated ice box pies, has been featured in Southern Living magazine on numerous occasions. Herby-K’s, a popular local seafood restaurant, has earned rave reviews in numerous national publications and was included in Garden & Gun magazine’s list “100 Southern Foods You Absolutely, Positively Must Try Before You Die.” The Wall Street Journal has listed Bossier City’s Silver Star Smokehouse among the best barbecue in the United States.
There’s always something going on
Mardi Gras, known as “the biggest free party on Earth,” is often associated with New Orleans. However, Carnival season – with its parades, parties, and costumed balls – is also huge in Shreveport-Bossier. During Carnival season, which officially begins on Twelfth Night and ends on Fat Tuesday, local social clubs known as “krewes” present enormous parades featuring hundreds of floats, marching bands and more.
As Carnival season draws to a close, a busy calendar of major festivals commences. Holiday in Dixie, one of the oldest annual festivals in the U.S., celebrates the arrival of spring with a carnival, live music and more in mid-April.
Shreveport-Bossier is also home to the United States Air Force’s oldest bomb wing, which is housed at Barksdale Air Force Base. Each May, the might and power of the U.S. Air Force is showcased during the Barksdale Air Force Base Air Show. Many of the world’s top aerobatic teams regularly perform at the air show, including the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.
Each Memorial Day Weekend, the sounds of zydeco music and the scent of boiling crawfish drift through the air in downtown Shreveport as the Mudbug Madness Festival brings four days of music, food and fun to Festival Plaza. Named one of the “Top 100 Events in North America” by the American Bus Association, this festival includes outstanding Louisiana cuisine, three stages of live music, kid’s activities and more
One of most anticipated events each June is the Let the Good Times Roll Festival, a celebration of black history and culture that features old-school, gospel, R&B and funk music as well as an outstanding array of food vendors, art booths and more. The event was named a “Top 20 Event” by the Southeast Tourism Society in 2014.
The arrival of summer means that local farmers’ markets will open, and Shreveport-Bossier boasts some of the largest and most popular farmers’ markets in Louisiana. The enormous Shreveport Farmers’ Market, open Saturdays and Tuesdays, June through August, includes hundreds of vendors selling farm-fresh produce, locally made arts and crafts and ready-to-eat artisan foods in Festival Plaza.
Every weekend in September is packed with events, ranging from the Pioneer Heritage Festival in Greenwood to the Highland Jazz and Blues Festival, a music festival held in Columbia Park that regularly attracts top names in jazz and blues music. Fall’s most-anticipated event may be the annual Red River Revel Arts Festival, an enormous, eight-day outdoor arts festival featuring hundreds of visual artists and three stages of non-stop live music, children’s entertainment and food vendors.
Beer lovers should plan to visit Shreveport-Bossier during the third weekend in October, when Great Raft Brewing – which Gourmet magazine recently named “One of 10 U.S. Breweries to Watch in 2015” – hosts its annual anniversary party on the night before Shreveport-Bossier’s largest craft beer event, BREW: A Premier Beer Tasting.
In addition, the State Fair of Louisiana takes place each October and November on the State Fairgrounds in Shreveport, followed by the November/December Louisiana Holiday Trail of Lights, with countless ways to enjoy the spirit of the holidays “Louisiana style.”
For More Information
To learn more about all of the great things to see and do in Shreveport-Bossier, visit www.shreveport-bossier.org or call 800-551-8682. A digital copy of the official visitor’s guide to Shreveport-Bossier may be downloaded at www.shreveport-bossier.org or visitors may call to request a print copy be mailed to them.
