Downtown Houma will be abuzz this weekend with Rougarou Festival and Houmapalooza celebrating south Louisiana cultureand embracing the Halloween spirit.
The first annual Rougarou Festival, sponsored by the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, will be Oct. 26 from 5 to 10 p.m. in downtown Houma.
Johnathan Foret, interim director of the Discovery Center, said the Center partnered with the Houma Regional Arts Council and the Downtown Development Corporation.
“We wanted to create an event where we could show Cajun and bayou folklore in a fun and lighthearted way, but to also raise awareness about coastal land loss and the things we are trying to do to preserve and protect the land,” Foret said.
The event will combine popular downtown events with Halloween festivities, including a Halloween parade and “Rougarou Run” with zombies and roller derby girls.
“The parade is a marching parade with most people on foot and in costume handing out candy to the kids,” Foret said. “We have a whole bunch of zombies dancing to “Thriller” and we’re using those zombies and the Cajun Rollergirls along the route for the race too.”
For the run, runners will receive a flag football belt with three flags. The runners’ task is to make it to the end of the route with at least one flag, and the zombies and rollergirls will be chasing them.
There will be Cajun-themed food and drinks, including a gumbo called “Rougarou Stew” and Pop Rouge ice cream called “Rougarouge” and all proceeds from the Rougarou Festival are dedicated to the development of the Wetlands Discovery Center.
The fourth bi-annual Houmapalooza, a free outdoor music festival, will be on Oct. 27 from noon to 10 p.m. in Courthouse Square of downtown Houma.
The event will feature ten Louisiana indie bands performing original music from Zydeco to rock.
Nora Matherne, festival coordinator, said the talent is incredible.
“It’s ten bands in ten hours,” Matherne said.
After the festival, the music will continue with the “Houmapalooza On Tap” bar crawl where past and present Houmapalooza bands will be perform at live music venues downtown.
At 11:30 a.m., the student winners of the Storm Drain Art Contest hosted by the Houma Regional Arts Council, Bayouland RC&D and Terrebonne Parish Consolidated Government, will be announced.
The drain markers will be unveiled in a small ceremony in Courthouse Square. Throughout the day, volunteers will begin installation of approximately 900 markers in Terrebonne Parish.  
Houmapalooza has also added a week-long music-themed workshop and lecture series leading up to the festival where musicians can hear lectures from local experts about different music subjects.
Tonight’s workshop will feature fiddler Brent Melancon at 6 p.m.  He will demonstrate and lecture about Cajun fiddling styles and blues music.
Also new to the festival is the “Green Tunes” children’s section where volunteers from the Houma-Terrebonne Community Band will teach children how to make instruments from recycled materials.