The University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s 48th Annual Lagniappe Day is set to take place on April 8 at the Student Union, complete with a crawfish boil, canoe races, jalapeno eating contest, the swamp jump and an inflatable obstacle course.
After a smaller event with a lower turnout during the COVID-19 Pandemic, this year’s Lagniappe Day is intended to return in full force. The Lagniappe Day Coordinator for the University Program Council, Trenton Seets, shared what the plans for this year’s event are.
“So for this upcoming Lagniappe Day, we’re planning on having it in full force again. We haven’t really had a big one since 2019. We’re having inflatables outside, we’ll have like a 40-foot obstacle course and then another inflatable beside that as well,” Seets said. “We’re gonna have canoe races, a pepper eating contest, and yeah the 20,000 pounds of crawfish as well.
The inflatables are a surprise new addition to the usual Lagniappe Day activities.
“Particularly, I’m really excited about the inflatables. I’ve never heard of bringing inflatables and that’s something I feel like that’s new to me, at least,” Seet said.
The crawfish boil will take place from 11 to 2 p.m. Tickets cost one meal swipe, or $8.25, and are available for pre-purchase through Sodexo until 11:59 p.m. on April 7. Walk-up purchases will not be available on Lagniappe Day itself. Each ticket will get about five to seven pounds of crawfish.
Other events are also taking place around the Student Union. Canoe races on Cypress Lake will be happening from 12:30 to 1:15 p.m., with two-person teams eligible to compete. From 1:25 to 1:45 p.m., is the jalapeno eating contest on the Student Union Porch. And starting at 1:50 p.m. is the traditional swamp jump, where members of the University Program Council and Student Government Association will jump into Cypress Lake.
The UL Lafayette website touches on the history of Lagniappe Day and its start in 1974.
“With its beginnings in 1974, Lagniappe Week/Day is a time-honored University tradition that gives students a chance to relax during a stressful spring semester,” the website reads. “The high point of Lagniappe Day is a huge crawfish boil where students can eat crawfish while sitting in the sun. Lagniappe Day is the ultimate way for students to decompress and prepare themselves for the end of the semester.”
Seets spoke on being able to bring Lagniappe Day tradition to students who may not have had the chance to experience it before.
“A lot of students don’t really know about Lagniappe Day because we haven’t had a real one since 2019. I’m a junior and the first one we had was last semester where not many people came to it because it was like a university holiday and people weren’t coming to campus,” Seets said. “And this is the first year that people are going to be on campus really just able to partake in the event as well.”