Wooden Boat Festival

The charming town of Madisonville, LA, with a population of only 800 residents, swells each October to nearly 20,000 visitors when it hosts one of Louisiana’s most picturesque festivals. In 2025, The Wooden Boat Festival will celebrate its 34th year here, on the banks of the beautiful Tchefuncte River. Begun in 1989, local boat owners Joy and Rob Curtis gathered friends and boat enthusiasts from all along the Gulf Coast to showcase their wooden boats. Proceeds from the event were used to develop Maritime Museum Louisiana, located just a few blocks from the festival grounds. In 2002, the planning and execution of the Wooden Boat Festival was turned over to the Maritime Museum. It has since emerged as a premier Louisiana attraction and continues to serve as a significant economic resource for Madisonville and neighboring communities.

As always,the Wooden Boat Festival will be “kicked off” by a Friday evening Maritime Mania party with attendees dressing in “nautical” or pirate attire and dancing the night away on the grounds of the Maritime Museum. Saturday and Sunday are filled with activities that include music, excellent food and beverage vendors, artists’ displays, children’s activities, and the ever-popular Quick ‘n Dirty Boat Building Contest and Parade. Each crew (team) is provided with the same materials, and the teams have 14 hours to build and decorate a boat. At the appointed hour, the costumed crews' parade with their boats to the Tchefuncte River where they launch their boats, cheered on by enthusiastic crowds as they sail, paddle and, as often as not, tip and sink.

The best part of the Wooden Boat Festival is the boats themselves. The Wooden Boat Festival features more than 75 boats of all types with many reaching more than 50 feet in length. Most of these boats may be boarded with the permission of their captains.