The sixth annual Louisiana Swamp Stomp Festival will take place March 21-23 on Nicholls State University grounds near John L. Guidry Stadium.
This year’s festival will feature 14 bands playing Cajun themed music, free Zydeco dance lessons taught by Zydeco/Cajun Dance Productions, carnival rides, food and arts and crafts.
The Southeast Tourism Society has placed the Swamp Stomp festival in the top 20 events in the Southeast for March 2014.
“This brings recognition to Nicholls, Lafourche Parish and the Thibodaux area,” said Executive Director of Auxiliary Services Brenda Haskins.  “It is a win-win for Nicholls, Lafourche Parish, surrounding parishes, Thibodaux and even Louisiana.”
“We provided a destination for people to come here to our school and community, and that will cause people to buy gas, groceries and stay in town. We wanted to help preserve music of the bayou, and we had a dream that this event would help with the education of the youth, and it is doing that.”
Lafayette-based band Feufollet will start off this year’s Swamp Stomp festivities by discussing their music at Lebijou Theatre in the Bollinger Memorial Student Union on Thursday, March 20, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. After their discussion, Feufollet will perform while free dance lessons will be taught and free jambalaya will be given out to the public in front of the union.
The festival will officially start Friday, March 21, at 3:30 p.m.
Some of the bands performing for this year’s festival will be Bruce Daigrepont Cajun Band, Chubby Carrier and the Bayou Swamp Band, Soul Creole, Pine Leaf Boys and many more.
Saturday, March 22, there will be a 1-Mile White Boot Waddle that starts at 9:00 a.m. andcosts $20 to enter followed by a 5K Can Can Run that starts at 9:30 a.m. and costs $30 to enter. The entry fees include a $5 donation to the Nicholls CAN! food drive, a T-shirt and a free entry to the festival on that day. 5K runners will also receive free food and drink tickets for that day. Registration for both races will begin at 8:30 a.m. next to the stadium.  
On Saturday, there will be a Jumbo Gumbo & Bayou Best Cook-Off, which is free for the public to taste upon entry to the festival.
The festival will come to an end on Sunday, March 23, around 6 p.m. Five bands will perform this day, and regular festival activities will take place with food, arts and crafts, free dance lessons and carnival rides.
Entry to the festival will cost $10 per day or $25 for a weekend pass, while children 12 and under can get in free. This year Student Government Association and Student Programming Association both donated $2,500 to the Louisiana Swamp Stomp festival from their budgets, which will allow full time Nicholls students to get in free with their Colonel Card.
“This is a great event for students to attend, and it a great recruiting method for new students and for future students to get to know Nicholls and our Cajun environment,” SGA President Melissa Cloutet said.
Every year, the Swamp Stomp committee has a poster and a t-shirt that represents the festival, and this year the committee picked graphic design and print making senior from Metarie Hilary Dugas’ design.
Dugas had to send in a resume to the committee, as well as a portfolio of her artwork, and from that, the committee chose her to draw this year’s design.
Her design will be on t-shirts, posters and koozies, which can be bought at the festival. The t-shirts will be sold for $10.  
“It is kind of awesome getting paid to draw things because that’s what I want to do with my life,” said Dugas.
All of the funds raised after paying the costs of the festival will be donated to the Tresors du Bayou Education Program, which is an integral part that teaches both children and adults about the unique features of our culture to help preserve them for present and future generations.
Last year’s Swamp Stomp raised and donated $20,000, and Haskins believes that every year will increase in funds because more people will come out and show their love for the Cajun heritage.