LAKE ARTHUR — Mardi Gras may feel a little different this year due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing guidelines, but organizers of the 22nd annual Lake Arthur Mardi Gras Run and Parade are hoping to continue the tradition.

Iowa resident Allison Savoy will always remember how it felt to experience Hurricane Laura, the strongest recorded storm to hit Louisiana in over 150 years. Her husband, Travis Savoy, is a law enforcement officer. He couldn’t leave, she said. Her mother, Myrna Romaine, is 82 and wasn’t scare…

Large Mardi Gras celebrations may have been put on hold this year, but Dennis Murdock saw no reason to scale back on dressing up his Lake Charles home to celebrate carnival season. Murdock spent around 10 hours weaving purple, green and gold fabric around the front porch and upstairs balcony…

The Children’s Theatre Company has created a new concept of educational theater in light of the realities and lessons taught by 2020. “BRAVO!” series allows students to learn theater concepts, at a social distance, using a variety of methods including monologues, movement, duets and play writing.

Artists of all ages are being asked to submit an entry in the Mardi Gras Museum Carnival Season’s first postcard contest.

WELSH — The annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade will be held at 11 a.m. Monday, Jan. 18 beginning at Bethune Park in Welsh.

Hurricane Laura was not kind to the old magnolia tree near the corner of Kirby Street and Louisiana Avenue. It was toppled and broken in the storm, and the top of the old tree fell on the house at 1028 Kirby St. owned by Rick and Donna Richard.

Historic City Hall will reopen in April or May. Expect nationally touring traveling art/history exhibitions including “A New Moon Rises.”

Santa Claus will visit Sulphur this Saturday evening, Dec. 19, at the Brimstone Museum and Henning Cultural Center’s “Santa Under the Oaks.” Santa will be present for drive-through smiles and waves, standing in front of the cultural center facing Ruth Street.

Who doesn’t love the iconic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” in which George Bailey gets the rare gift of a look back at what the lives of everyone around him would have been like if he had never existed?

Lake City Cruisers is providing a safe and entertaining outlet for Southwest Louisiana residents in a time where entertainment may be hard to come by. The glow- in-the-dark bicycle tours allow visitors to take a one-hour ride through downtown Lake Charles along the lake and down Shell Beach Drive.

JENNINGS — A Block off Broadway will bring a 1940s radio Christmas show to life with the return of its Sounds of Christmas, Dec. 11-13.“It’s been five years since the last Sounds of Christmas,” Director Joseph Frazier-Cole said. “With this year being what it is….COVID-19, quarantine, politic…

JENNINGS — Volunteers and staff at the W.H. Tupper Merchandise Museum are busily decking the halls and trimming the trees for the 3rd annual Hall of Trees.The festive display goes through Jan. 23 at the museum, 311 N. Main St., and will feature more than 30 unique and beautifully decorated C…

Lake Area residents don’t have to stay in this weekend or next. No, the governor has not moved the state into the next phase, but the city of Lake Charles has created an opportunity for area residents of all ages to enjoy, art, ballet, theater and music – safely – with Art Six-Feet Apart. It…

Similar to many other professions, the worldwide pandemic coupled with the hurricanes that hit Southwest Louisiana in August and September hit the theatre community hard. Many theatres have been unable to host performances or bring in income and are now having to keep up with bills alongside…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” in homes across Southwest Louisiana. Trees are going up earlier than ever before because, as one mom put it, “We just need a little Christmas.”

A performance by the fiery 10-piece Fabulous Equinox Orchestra at the Lutcher Theater in Orange, Texas, will be broadcast on the theater’s Facebook page at 7 p.m. Nov. 19.

The city of Lake Charles is bringing life and art together and out into the community through their newest series “Art 6 Feet Apart,” which starts Friday, Nov. 13. This cultural series will showcase SWLA art organizations around the community.

Cities throughout Southwest Louisiana are moving forward with trick-or-treating this year.

More than a dozen area musicians and bands will perform at Crying Eagle Saturday for the “Back in Flight” relief concert to raise money for Southwest Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Laura.