New Iberia * Sugar Cane Festival

Road trip Monday brings us to the Sugar Cane Festival !

Sept. 26-29th 2019 : New Iberia ,la.

Celebrate the Louisiana sugar cane industry with parades, carnival, live Cajun and Zydeco music, car show, sugar cookery, photography, and artistry competitions, horticulture show, pageantry and more

What could be more fitting a cause for celebration than the tall, green, sweet sugar cane which has done so much for the economy of South Louisiana? And so it is, that the last full weekend of September, as the growth of the succulent sugar cane reaches its pinnacle, residents and visitors are exhilarated with a feeling of excitement, as New Iberia enthusiastically hosts the twenty-four sugar producing parishes of Louisiana.

Sugar, the honoree at this festival, and the sweetest commodity on the market, has the magic power to turn ordinary dishes into productions worthy of a gourmet’s taste. To the Jesuit Fathers goes the distinction of introducing sugar cane to Louisiana. Because of its rapid growth due to the semi-tropical climate and the ingenuity of a young Frenchman, Etienne De Bore, who discovered the secret of granulated sugar, the entire economy of South Louisiana was changed and the era of large plantations came into existence.http://hisugar.org/wordpress/

The Parade & Fun

Growing and Using Sugar Cane :

Cultivated sugarcane is comprised of four complicated hybrids derived from six species of perennial grasses. It is cold tender and, as such, is primarily grown in tropical regions. In the United States

What is Sugarcane Used for?

Sugarcane is cultivated for its sweet sap or juice. Today, it is primarily used as an additive to foods but has was cultivated for use in China and India 2,500 years ago. Prior to the processing of sugarcane into the sugar we know today, uses for sugarcane were a bit more utilitarian; canes were cut and easily carried or eaten in the field for a quick burst of energy. The sweet juice was extracted from the cane by chewing the tough fibers and pulp.