2016 Festival
Friday May 20th & Saturday May 21st

Gibsland, Louisiana holds an Authentic Bonnie & Clyde Festival annually on the weekend closest to the May 23, 1934 anniversary date of the ambush of Bonnie & Clyde.

Bring your family and friends and join us each year as we remember the historical ambush of the infamous outlaws Bonnie & Clyde, with fun festivities, great food, music and authentic re-enactments.

Each year the festival kicks off on Friday night with live enterainment and a dinner of authentic Louisiana Jambalaya at either the Lion's Club or Gibsland Grill around 6pm. Location will be updated as soon as confirmed. Cost: $10.00 at the door. Following dinner is the Lorraine Joyner Historical Meeting featuring guest speakers which may include family members, historians and authors.

Saturday's festivites start off with a pancake breakfast at the Lion's Club between 8am - 10am. Cost: $5.00 per plate. The streets come to life with vendors, live entertainment, a parade and action packed reenactments. At 11:00 a look-alike contest will be held for Bonnie, Clyde and the officers who ambushed them. Prizes will be awarded to the winners. There is plenty of good food and refreshments along with two fantastic museums to visit.

I would like to congratulate Perry Carver who is now the new owner of the Authentic Bonnie & Clyde Ambush Museum. Many of you may have seen him in past festivals. Expect to find some interesting new changes inside!

A new addition to the festivities is Bingo next door to the Gibsland Grill.

The festival winds down around 4:30pm when everyone drives out to the actual ambush site for an authentic reenactment of the fateful day when Bonnie & Clyde were gunned down by the law.

This annual festival is not meant to glorify the life and crimes of Bonnie & Clyde nor to celebrate their tragic death. It is an annual get together of family members, historians and authors so they can share their interest in the history and the mystery. The town welcomes anyone who wishes to attend and learn the truth about the history of Bonnie & Clyde.

Please do not contact me for vendor spaces or to be in reenactments. I am not on the festival committee or in the reenactment group. Interested vendors may contact John Cole at the Gibsland Bank and Trust phone (318) 843-6228 or write the festival committee at P. O. Box 652, Gibsland, La., 71028.

If you are interested in participating in the reenactments, you will have to speak to them at the festival and they will decide if you are qualified to participate in next years festival.

If you miss this year’s festival, not to worry, there will be another one next year.