The People

Slightly less than two-thirds of the people are white, mainly of French, Spanish, English, Irish, Scottish, or German descent. Nearly all the rest are black.

Louisiana's culture shows the influences of its varied settlers, especially the French. French is the household language of many families. Descendants of early French and Spanish settlers are called Creoles. Cajuns (the name is derived from Acadians) are descendants of the colonial French Acadians who came mainly from Nova Scotia between 1765 and 1785. Cajuns speak a kind of French that includes many foreign words, particularly ones from German, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Annual events in Louisiana
January-March
Sugar Bowl Football Game in New Orleans (January); Mardi Gras in New Orleans and many other cities (before Shrove Tuesday); Louisiana Black Heritage Festival in Lake Charles (March); Taste of the Bayou Food Festival in Houma (March); Audubon Pilgrimage in St. Francisville (March).
April-June
Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival (April); Holiday in Dixie in Shreveport (April); Festival International de Louisiane in Lafayette (April); Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans (April-May); Contraband Days in Lake Charles (May); Tomato Festival in Chalmette (May); Louisiana Peach Festival in Ruston (June); World Champion Pirogue Races in Lafitte (June).
July-September
Tarpon Rodeo in Grand Isle (July); Gueydon Duck Festival (August); Bayou Lafourche Antiques Show and Sale in Thibodaux (September); Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival in Morgan City (September); Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette (September); Frog Festival in Rayne (September).
October-December
Festivals Acadiens in Lafayette (October); French Food Festival in Larose (October); International Rice Festival in Crowley (October); Hodges Garden Fall Festival in Many (October); Bridge City Gumbo Festival (October); Louisiana State Fair in Shreveport (October-November); Natchitoches Christmas Festival of Lights (December); Bonfires on the Mississippi River Levee (Christmas Eve).