Baton Rouge is always great about offering wonderful festivals for all. Not only does Baton Rouge offer fabulous festivals but the entire state of Louisiana really has it going on!  So, pack up the family and head on out to all the festivals that Baton Rouge and Louisiana has to offer. You'll be glad you did.

Louisiana Catfish Festival- What would good ole Louisiana be without catfish, eh? Come on down and get ready for carnival rides and live music. It's fun for the whole family! The Louisiana Catfish Festival last about four days. If you are from Baton Rouge, you'll have to hop in the car and head to Washington. It's about an hour drive from Baton Rouge but I'm sure it's worth the trip. They will feature a cook-off, arts & crafts, dancing, a bow contest, clothing, ATV dealers and antique markets. There will be pageants that you can enter your little ones in, so be sure to dress to impress! The pageant is held on Saturday and the baby pageant will be held on Sunday. This is a festival with a cause. All of the money collected from this festival benefit the Municipal Public Library Renovation Fund. The Louisiana Catfish Festival begins Friday, March 13th.

Smokin Blues and BBQ Challenge- If you love BBQ, get ready for the 5th annual event held in Downtown Hammond. There will more than fifty teams getting together from around the United States. Whoa, that's a lot of people and a lot of BBQ! Did you know that this is the largest BBQ event in Louisiana? Come and join a great cook off! They also have something for the kids. They will have a kids cook-off to children of all ages. So, get your fork ready and your bib and head on down to the Smokin Blues BBQ challenge! The Smokin Blues and BBQ Challenge begins March 28-29.

Red Stick International Animation Festival-If you are the creative type and love animation, this is a great place for you group with others that have the same interest and share skills and knowledge. This festival is to promote the art of, yes- you guess it...ANIMATION! This event will be held in Downtown Baton Rouge. Most of the events will take place at Manship Theatre, The Shaw Center, The Old State Capital and the Louisiana Arts & Science Museum. They will host a "Cartoon-A-Palooza" that Saturday morning which is open to everyone and their family for free. It will be held at the Old State Capital. This year's festival will be held from April 16-19.

Angola Prison Rodeo and Arts & Crafts Festival- This is one festival you will not want to miss. This event has more than 60,000 people. Come to this festival and be ready to hear good music, good foods and see incredible arts & crafts from over 800 inmate artists. You also get to tour the prison farm. Kinda neat, uh? The best part of this festival is the Convict Poker. This is where four inmates are sitting at a table playing cards while a huge bull tries to wreck the game. There's so much fun to be had at this festival. Tickets are just $10. The annual festival will be held in Angola on April 19-20.

West Baton Rouge Kite Festival- "Let's go fly a kite, up to the highest...." Well, you know the rest. There's nothing like flying a kite on a beautiful windy day. Come join kite flyers from all over at the Kite Festival. You will get the chance to watch and see how the pros do it. The festival offers unique and interesting kites. Come and enter the kite making competition. Admission to this festival is free! FOOD, FUN & FREE! You can't beat that. Entertain the kids with face painting, space walks and races. Let's go fly a kite! This festival will be held  on April 4-5.

Louisiana Crawfish Championship- Catfish and Crawfish, this is what Louisiana is about! Come join an awesome competition of who can make the best crawfish! This festival offers fun, concessions, crawfish, potatoes and more. It's twenty dollars for adults and ten dollars for children ages 13-17. Come see who is going to get bragging rights for cooking the best crawfish in Louisiana. This festival will be held on Saturday, April 5 from 11:00-8:00 pm in Morrero, La.

Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival- This is always a fun festival. What's neat about the Strawberry Festival is that they feature a parade. How fun! The parade is April 12th at 9:30 am, it will include over 80 entries. Did you know that it's one of the biggest parades in South Louisiana? The three day festival is where the fun is at. They'll have strawberry eating contest and a variety of stations you can visit.  Come enjoy good fun, good music and good berries! This festival will be held on April 11-13th.

French Quarter Festival- You know, there is always something going on in New Orleans. In April, it will be the French Quarter Festival. Come see what New Orleans has to offer and get a taste of their culture. It will be free entertainment with over 100 music performances. Did you know that there will be about 15 stages? Now, that's what I call a festival! Be sure to come on an empty tummy because there will be loads of good food! This festival will be held on April 11.