Louisiana music brings down the roof at rock concerts, jazz clubs, blues joints, Cajun dance halls, theaters and churches. Calliopes blast tunes from steamboats. Cowboy boots shuffle on the floors of country-western bars. But there is perhaps no better place to sample the sheer variety of Louisiana music than at one of our many fairs and festivals. Here's just a taste of what's coming up.

From June 26-28, the Squire Creek La. Peach Festival in Ruston offers scrumptious music and peach cobbler. From there you can head on down to the Greater Mandeville Seafood Festival from July 2-5 which features over 33 bands, 200 artists & craftsmen, and 20 food and beverage vendors.

In Central Louisiana, you can visit Chef Paul Prudhome's hometown July 5-7 for the Opelousas Spice & Music Festival. And there's plenty of music at the Natchitoches Meat Pie Festival, September 11-12.

There are three Cajun Country events guaranteed to spice up any summer vacation: The Buggy Fest of Church Point, June 5-7, offers Cajun and zydeco music; The Cajun French Music & Food Festival in Lake Charles, July 18-19, features continuous French Cajun music; and Le Cajun Awards & Music Festival in Lafayette, Aug 21-22, is a must for lovers of Acadian culture.

The 15th Annual ESSENCE Music Festival in the Superdome in New Orleans, July 3-5, features big name stars like Beyonce. While Satchmo SummerFest, July 30-August 2, pays tribute to jazz legend Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong with performances by some of the best jazz artists in the world today.

Shut off your MP3 player and come down to Louisiana for the real thing! Visit LouisianaTravel.com today.