With Festival International comes visitors, and when you have guests you want to impress, of course you’ll take them to all things festival. With some help from the Downtown Development Authority, we have a list of must-visit spots for the weekend.
First, you’ll want to fuel up, and with more than 30 local restaurants in walking distance, you could eat out for every meal and snack and every sip in between and still have options left!
Pop’s Poboys has the perfect poboys with seasonal drink specials for Festival International. Also on Jefferson Street, Pamplona has a single-serve paella special for this weekend. Carpe Diem has gelato for the kids and a brand new cocktail menu for adults. For visitors that come to town each year, a few culinary additions to downtown are Spoonbill, Central Pizza and the Sainte Marie.
Evidently, a day in the festival sunshine will have you ready to step into some air conditioning, and on top of all those restaurants, downtown holds indoor activities for your visitors big and small.
For the perfect visiting-Lafayette Instagram, stop at a mural or maybe a more hidden Lafayette gem for a cool photo op. You can find murals outside Marley’s, across the street at Dwyer’s, and even inside some stores like Mattea’s Hand. One Festival International special wall is outside of Reve Coffee Roasters, too.
Each night, give your guests the VIP experience with a cool after-party.
“There are a lot of incredible after-hours shows happening in venues across downtown Lafayette. I’m going to try to make it to Blue Moon, The Pearl, Rock ‘N’ Bowl, Acadian Superette, and that’s just a few. There’s even a Sunday morning brunch show at Reve Coffee on the other side of Jefferson Street!” says Anita Begnaud, an expert on all things Lafayette.
