Bayou Bon Vivant: Norfolk's Cajun music and crawfish festival

Last checked Oct. 19, 2026. This page is updated each year. Facts come from Norfolk Festevents, which runs the festival.

Bayou Bon Vivant turns Town Point Park into a three-day New Orleans party each May, with Cajun bands, crawfish, beignets and an arts market of New Orleans crafters on the downtown Norfolk waterfront. The 2027 dates had not been announced when this page was last checked. The 2026 festival ran Friday to Sunday, May 15-17. Watch festevents.org for next year’s dates and tickets.

Longtime Norfolk festivalgoers know it as the successor to the Bayou Boogaloo, the Festevents “Music and Cajun Food Festival” that ran at Town Point Park in late June as recently as 2019. By 2023 the Cajun festival carried the Bayou Bon Vivant name and had moved to May.

Who to call

• Festival questions, lost and found, accessibility requests: Norfolk Festevents, 757-441-2345, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays
• Tickets: tickets.festevents.org
• Emergency: 911

Bayou Bon Vivant at a glance

Past dates

Dates come from the Festevents pages for 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026. Every year so far it has been the weekend before Memorial Day weekend.

What’s there

• Crawfish and Cajun food: more than 8,000 pounds of live crawfish, plus traditional Cajun dishes for sale, the food page says. The festival lists beignets, gumbo, etouffee and jambalaya.
• Music: New Orleans jazz and Cajun bands all weekend; the 2026 lineup is on the music page.
• Arts market: more than 30 New Orleans crafters.
• Family extras in 2026: crocodile and reptile exhibits, glassblowing demonstrations by Norfolk-born glass artist Nate Avery, stilt walkers, a 15-foot swamp monster puppet named Fronda and walk-up chess games, the activities page says.
• Sensory-Inclusive Zone: a fenced, quieter area with seating and an accessible restroom, run with KultureCity, is listed for the festival on Festevents’ visitor tips page.

Tickets

• Free window: Friday from noon to 2 p.m. is free and open to the public.
• Single-day tickets cover one day of the festival; a weekend package covers all three days, the ticket site says.
• Children 12 and under do not need a ticket.
• Festevents did not list ticket prices on its event pages; check the ticket site when the next festival goes on sale. Food and drinks are paid separately.

Rules and what to bring

From Festevents’ park rules:

• No outside alcohol, glass containers, tents, shade structures or large umbrellas.
• No skates, skateboards or bicycles in the park.
• Pets: service animals only, unless an event is posted as pet-friendly.
• Alcohol: you must be 21 with a valid photo ID to buy or drink.
• Lost children: report to event security. There are no public address announcements for lost people or items.
• Weather: Festevents can postpone, cancel or evacuate events in bad weather.

Getting there and parking

Town Point Park is on Waterside Drive next to Waterside. From I-264, take Exit 9, Waterside Drive, Festevents’ directions page says.

• Closest garages: the Waterside garage at Waterside Drive and Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Atlantic), the Town Point garage at West Main and Boush streets (entrance on West Main) and the Main Street garage at West Main Street and Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Atlantic). Rates are on the city’s parking website.
• Transit: The Tide light rail and the Elizabeth River Ferry from Portsmouth both serve downtown; check Hampton Roads Transit.

See our getting around guide for more.

More on the waterfront

The same park hosts the spring Town Point Virginia Wine Festival earlier in May and Norfolk Harborfest in June. For more, see things to do in Norfolk.

Frequently asked questions

When is Bayou Bon Vivant 2027?

Norfolk Festevents had not announced 2027 dates when this page was last checked on Oct. 19, 2026. The festival has run Friday to Sunday in mid-May for the past four years; in 2026 it was May 15-17.

Is Bayou Bon Vivant the same as Bayou Boogaloo?

Yes, in spirit. Festevents ran the Bayou Boogaloo Music and Cajun Food Festival at Town Point Park in late June as recently as 2019. By 2023 its Cajun festival at the park was Bayou Bon Vivant, held in May.

Is Bayou Bon Vivant free?

Friday from noon to 2 p.m. is free and open to the public. After that it is ticketed, but children 12 and under do not need a ticket, Festevents says.

What food is at Bayou Bon Vivant?

Crawfish, more than 8,000 pounds of it, plus beignets, gumbo, etouffee and jambalaya, all for sale from chefs Festevents says come from Louisiana.