The Annual Mississippi Coast Coliseum Crawfish Festival is a much looked forward to event that takes place over the course of two weekends that has been drawing visitors and locals alike for nearly 20 years, held at the MS Coast Coliseum.
The festival gives folks the opportunities to enjoy carnival rides provided by North American Midway, major headliner entertainment, shopping at the many arts & crafts vendors as well as good eats. Headliners for this year's entertainment include The Gin Blossoms, The Wailers and others as well as other local favorites.
As a way to give folks a shot at fame, a local radio station offers a Country Star contest, with $1,000 in cash prize money.
The second weekend is Coast Crawfish Cook-off where teams compete for trophies, like the Budweiser, and cash. Guests can pay a fee to taste all the recipes and vote for the People's Choice Champion. A special group of judges, known as "Mudbug Experts" use a special points system to find the Judge's Championship.
The two-weekend eight-day run draws visitors from three states who are looking to celebrate "the mudbug" and have a good time.
The award-winning festival has been honored by being awarded the 2007 Southern Travel Treasure" by AAA's magazine, AAA Southern Traveler and the Southeast Tourism Society's Top 20 Spring Event for 2008 and 2009.
With so much going on, it's no wonder that the Crawfish Festival has been named one of the top 20 events in the Southeast.
