58th Annual Louisiana Fur & Wildlife Festival

Jan. 9-10

Downtown Cameron

Take the short drive to Cameron for one of SWLA's "oldest and coldest" festivals! Click on the photo to visit the festival website. 

Lt. Gov. Town Hall

Jan. 13, 10am

Civic Center, Contraband Room

Bring your thoughts, ideas, input and vision for your community to discuss how the Office of the Lt. Governor and the Office of Tourism can provide a partnership for success. Call 337-436-9588 for details.

RAN Seminar

Jan. 13, 11:30am

Central School, Room 108

Want to become more involved in the SWLA artist network? The quarterly RAN seminar series offers workshops and discussions on topics affecting the regional creative workforce. Click here to register now!

58th Annual Louisiana Fur & Wildlife Festival

Jan. 9-10

Downtown Cameron

The Annual Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival takes place in Cameron, LA across from the Cameron Parish School Board grounds. The festival will highlight all the local, natural resource industries in the area and caters to all ages and interests featuring parades, pageants, dances, Cajun music, exhibits and a carnival. Not to mention some unique contests like trap setting, nutria and muskrat skinning, oyster shucking and skeet shooting. Always a favorite among hunters are the dog trials. These contests and more make this a memorable experience for the whole family and a reason why people keep coming back to one of Southwest Louisiana's, "oldest and coldest" festivals. Hours are 12pm to midnight on Friday and 9am to midnight on Saturday. Admission is $10/day to enter fairgrounds. Children 10 and under are free. $25/person for outdoor events/contests. Call (337) 250-6322 for more information or visit www.lafurandwildlifefestival.com. 

Mardi Gras Queens' Pageant

Saturday, Jan. 10, 9am

Lake Charles Civic Center

900 Lakeshore Dr., Lake Charles

Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana invites all young ladies between the ages of 5 and 23 for Miss divisions to enter the 2015 Miss Mardi Gras of Southwest Louisiana pageant. The pageant will be held Saturday, Jan. 10, at the Lake Charles Civic Center's Rosa Hart Theatre at 10 a.m. for pageants featuring participants 5-14 years old and 6:30 p.m. for those 15-23 years old. Contestants must be residents of Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron or Jeff Davis Parishes. There are eight different age categories. The queens will reign over the 2015 Mardi Gras festivities in Lake Charles and be presented at parades and events. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under. Call 337-274-4350 for details.

Tourism Town Hall with Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 10am-12pm

Lake Charles Civic Center

900 Lakeshore Dr., Lake Charles

Bring your thoughts, ideas, input and vision for your community to discuss how the Office of the Lt. Governor and the Office of Tourism can provide a partnership for success. We will explore opportunities for economic development and infrastructure improvement, and together create a vision and plan for tourism economic impact throughout Southwest Louisiana. Call 337-436-9588 for details.

Regional Arts Network (RAN) Seminar

Tuesday, Jan. 13, 11:30am-1pm

Central School, Room 108

809 Kirby St., Lake Charles

The next edition of the Arts Council of SWLA's Regional Arts Network (RAN) will discuss the addition of a new artist network that will allow local artists to share ideas and collaborate. The group will have an online presence on Facebook. The quarterly series offers seminars and workshops on topics affecting SWLA's cultural economy from cultivating business partnerships to social media strategies, and the luncheons allow for networking opportunities for area creative workers, young professionals, and community leaders. An RSVP is required, and there will be a nominal fee to attend. Lunch will be provided. For more information or to RSVP, call the Arts Council office at (337) 439-2787 or visit www.artscouncilswla.org. 

Activities at the Children's Museum

327 Broad Street, Lake Charles

Call 337-433-9420 for details

Fri., Jan. 9: Marshmallow Painting, 3:30pm

Sat., Jan. 10: Sasol's Second Saturday Science Show, 11:30am

This Wide Night

Jan. 15-17, 24-25, times vary

Benjamin W. Mount Auditorium, Central School

809 Kirby St., Lake Charles

Ticket Info: www.itineranttheatre.com 

Itinerant Theatre (IT) brings to the Lake Area This Wide Night by Chl�e Moss. Performances are 7:00pm January 15, 16, 17 and 24, and one Sunday matinee 2:00pm, January 25. Tickets are $15, or $10 for students.  This Wide Night, a two-woman play by British writer Chl�e Moss, continues Itinerant Theatre's 2014-15 theme of "America's Unfinished Business: Freedom".  This pithy, pathos-filled, humor-filled play explores issues of identity, community and workforce realities of once imprisoned women who are re-entering society. The play has some strong language. Call 337-436-6275 for details.

Lincoln: The Constitution & the Civil War, Opening Reception

Friday, Jan. 23, 4pm

Central Library

301 W. Claude St., Lake Charles

"Lincoln: The Constitution and the Civil War," a traveling exhibition, will open on Wednesday, January 21 at Central Library located at 301 W. Claude Street in Lake Charles. An opening reception for the exhibit led by the program's scholar, Dr. Michael Smith, Associate Professor of History at McNeese State University, will be held on Friday, January 23rd at 4:00 p.m. at the library. The exhibition examines how President Lincoln used the Constitution to confront three intertwined crises of the Civil War-the secession of Southern states, slavery and wartime civil liberties. The exhibit will run during library hours through March 6 and is free and open to the public. Call 337-721-7151 for details.

Beethoven, Buffet & Bubbly

Saturday, Jan. 31, 11am-2pm

Lake Charles Country Club

3350 Country Club Rd., Lake Charles

Ticket Info: www.lcsymphony.com 

Enjoy a glass of champagne punch or sparkling beverage as you listen to the sounds of the symphony's string trio. A lunch of finger sandwiches, fettuccine, and mini quiches, followed by an assortment of petit fours will be offered. Then, grab your bingo cards and get ready for fun, as Joey Frazier takes over to call the games. Exciting prizes donated by local businesses will go to the winners of eight bingo games. Between the games, door prizes will be given out to many lucky guests. Individual tickets are $50; half tables of four may be reserved for $200; and a full table of eight may be reserved for $400. Call 337-433-1611 for details.