Let the Good Times Boil: Burning Crawfish Festival Returns This May

Nicole Brice

Apr 12, 2026

Show up on May 30, 2026, in Henderson, Louisiana.

The Burning Crawfish Festival returns this year on Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Henderson, LA, at Big Brown (1065 Nina Hwy). Since it began in 2009, founder M’Lyn Usie has continued to build on the festival's success by featuring a new lineup of talent each year. This year’s lineup of musicians is packed for the celebrations. Bands such as Nest, Slow the Knife, Cheater Pipe, Shivering Demons, Sunrise:Sunset, The Brown Stripes, Totem, Blood Show, and LA Phantoms will start playing at 1:00 p.m. There will be food, drinks, vendors, and more. The event is open to all ages and will also include a waterslide for kids. Additionally, there will be a clothing swap and a plant swap.

The flyer for the 2026 Burning Crawfish Fest in Henderson, LA

The idea for the festival began when founder M’Lyn Usie decided to use some of the skills she learned in college to promote music. She always wanted to put on a music festival, and in 2026, here we are. With a background in the music business, the festival started as a gathering among friends and continues to grow. Usie has said of the festival’s origins, “I went to Loyola University in New Orleans at the time, and in 2005, when Katrina hit, one of our favorite professors at Loyola, he and his wife, they actually bought the big brown house in Henderson, and it is right down the road from where I grew up. When we couldn’t go home to New Orleans, we spent a lot of time hanging out at Big Brown, and we had all these ideas. Dr. Jimbo would always ask me what I wanted to do with my music business degree, and I told him I’d love to put on a festival, and then it happened. It’s like the Burning Man but for crawfish country.”

Tickets for the 2026 Burning Crawfish Festival are $15 now via this presale link and will be $20 on the day of the festival. Show up, bring friends, and plan for a great day of music. There will also be a gigantic papier-mâché crawfish lit in the evening to bring it all together.