The 2021 Gueydan Duck Festival opens at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 26, and goes through Sunday, Aug. 29. Few Southwest Louisiana Festivals offer this level of entertaining competition and music greats.

Enjoy skeet shooting, dog trials, pageants, and cooking contests. See Grammy winner Wayne Toups and groove to the sweet sounds of Bag of Donuts. Find out why the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals voted the Gueydan Duck Festival the 2019 Festival of the Year.

Thursday, Aug. 26, is family night. Admission is free.

Rides open at 6 p.m. The cost for a ride bracelet is $20. The Envies will take the stage from 6:45 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Be there Friday, Aug. 27, at 5 p.m. to see the first round of the skeet shoot competition. Carnival rides begin at 6 p.m. The ride bracelet is $25.

The entertainment line up starts with Dustin Sonnier at 6:30 p.m. Jamie Bergeron goes on at 8:15. The Chee Weez will play from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.

On Saturday, Aug. 28, get up and get out to the Old Festival Grounds for the dog trials at 8 a.m. and skeet shooting at 10 a.m. Carnival rides start at noon; opening ceremonies are at 12:30; senior queens pageant will be at 1 p.m.; the grand parade is set for 3 p.m.; and a skeet shoot is planned for 4 p.m.

Colby Latiolais and Ambush, Louisiana Red, Wayne Toups and Bag of Donuts entertain from 4:15 p.m. through midnight.

The Sunday, Aug. 29, outdoor cook-off registration begins at 7:30 a.m. The duck carving demonstration is at 9 a.m. and the skeet will fly again at 9 a.m.

Follow the smell of good food at noon to judge and sample the results of the outdoor cookout. Skeet finals will be held at 1 p.m. Carnival rides on Sunday will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Lukas Meaux is the closing performer and will be on stage from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

On May 12, 1977, the trademark bearing the title “Gueydan, LA.- Duck Capital of America” was recorded and validated with the Secretary of State in Baton Rouge upon the actions of the Les Dames de Gueydan, a local women’s club. A few months following this, the Gueydan Jaycees promoted the trade name by organizing a group of interested residents to form what is now called the Gueydan Duck Festival Association.

The first festival was held in November of 1977 and has grown considerably each year. Held originally on blocked-off streets in Gueydan, the festival moved to its own grounds in 1980 when the Atlantic-Richfield Company donated seven acres to the Gueydan Duck Festival and the Vermilion Parish Police Jury.

Early in 1996, the Gueydan Duck Festival Association purchased a 10-acre tract of land adjacent to the existing festival grounds complete with lighting and metal buildings for all the festival activities. The Gueydan Duck Festival is nationally known and listed on the Internet (in numerous places-and now with its own web address). It is so representative of a fact to Cajun culture that it has been featured at the World’s Fair in New Orleans and on the LPB series “Taste of Louisiana” with Chef John Folse.