Medina Lake Cajun Festival-Rolling Out the Good Times for 40 Years

Cajun festival returns September 25

The Medina Lake Cajun Festival will celebrate its fourth year this fall and feature delicious food, toe-tapping music, delightful dancing and other fun activities

Each year, about 500 volunteers work to transform the grounds into a little slice of Cajun Country, decorating booths, cooking all of the food to be served and preparing for the influx of visitors.

Guests can listen and dance to Cajun and Zydeco music on two stages with bands from the heart of Louisiana, enjoy the best homemade Cajun food this side of Louisiana and sample gumbos in the Great Gumbo Cook-off.

Volunteer cooks prepare savory Cajun food cooked on site. Dishes include crawfish pies, jambalaya, fried catfish and shrimp, red beans & rice, crawfish etouffee, bread pudding with whiskey sauce and much more.

All day long, two stages rock with Cajun and Zydeco music with a little Country and Western added in for good measure.

There are two dance floors, and it is impossible not to join in the exuberant dancing or at least tap your toes as you listen.

Other attractions include an arts and crafts show and games for kids.

The festival will be held at the Lakehills Community Center, 11225 PR 37 in Lakehills, on Saturday, September 25, from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Admission is $15; children aged 10 and under enter free.

There is free parking and shuttle service.

The 40th Anniversary Medina Lake Cajun Festival is dedicated to the memory of founder Bob Caswell, who passed away in 2019.

All proceeds benefit the Lakehills Community Center, a non-profit charitable organization.

You may wonder, what is a Cajun Festival doing in the Texas Hill Country?

In 1981, the Lakehills Civic Center was desperately seeking a way to pay the mortgage on their building which was being foreclosed on.

The Board of Directors asked the help of a recent Louisiana transplant, attorney Bob Caswell.

After buying time on the foreclosure, he suggested trying a gumbo cookoff as a fundraiser.

At that time, that was a rather bold idea, because the Cajun craze had not really hit Texas yet. However, the event was a success and eventually grew into the Medina Lake Cajun Festival. It has now persevered for 40 years.

For more information visit www.CajunFestival-MedinaLake.com or call 830 460-0600 or 210-885-6435 or e-mail bengel@lakehillsciviccenter.org