About Us

BREW is designed to be a fundraiser for Red River Revel, Inc. and Downtown Shreveport Unlimited by providing the community an opportunity to experience a premier beer tasting event on the riverfront in downtown Shreveport. This “quality of life” event will be entertaining, educational, non-political and non-sectarian.

About Red River Revel, Inc.

Red River Revel, Inc. is a multi-faceted non-profit arts organization. What began in 1976 as a gift from the Junior League of Shreveport is a celebration of the arts in a festival format. Through hard work, determination and even a little luck, the Red River Revel is no longer synonymous with the term, “Arts Festival;” it has quickly evolved into much more within our community. In 2000, the Revel took over the management of the Shreveport Farmers’ Market. In 2006, as a means to increase available funds for the Arts Festival, CORK: A Red River Revel Wine Event was born. Red River Revel, Inc. is now directly responsible for over 50 days of programming in the downtown area; it plays a pivotal role with regard to the quality of life within this community and the surrounding areas.

Specifically, the programs under our leadership provide:

1. Tourism;
2. Tax dollars on the local, parish, and state level;
3. An opportunity for other local non-profit organizations to fundraise through participation;
4. Access to the Arts;
5. Arts educational components for youth;
6. Employment; and
7. Quality of Life events that personify the community as a whole and are instrumental towards the recruitment of new industry, such as Cyber Command.

Programs under the leadership of Red River Revel, Inc. are:

CORK: A Red River Revel Wine Event

Now in its 4th year, CORK has become the premier spring event in the Ark-La-Tex attracting wine aficionados from across Louisiana, east Texas and southwest Arkansas. CORK offers three distinct events:

The Premier Wine Dinner pairs premier wines (90+ rating) with the spectacular cuisine of The Vintage in Eldorado Resort Casino Shreveport.

Four educational seminars are offered during the event. Wine 101, a seminar that explains the basics of wine and food pairings; Wine 201, moves away from the generalities of 101 and begins to explain specifics; a Champagne Tasting Seminar will compare/contrast six champagnes produced by two French vineyards from different regions; and a Riedel Wine Tasting Seminar, where it will be proven that the wine glass makes a difference.

Lastly, the Saturday Afternoon Wine Tasting offers more than eighty wines, signature dishes from the finest local restaurants, and live music. Winemakers from some of the leading wine houses in the country are on site to answer specific questions.

Shreveport Farmers’ Market (May – August; October – November)

With over 90 farmers and vendors participating at the Shreveport Farmers’ Market, this family-friendly atmosphere provides the public an opportunity to purchase local vegetables, plants, jams, jellies, breads, meats, honey, herbs, hot sauces and other various sundries. Specialty vendors include knife sharpening, arts and crafts, books, and homemade soaps and lotions.

Additional programming includes blood drives the first Saturday of each month; a cookbook exchange; carving demonstrations; child safety seat inspections; a mobile library; cooking demonstrations; medical check-up stations ; and educational seminars regarding nutrition.

Red River Revel Arts Festival

The Red River Revel is a multi-arts festival—a celebration of the arts—bringing to the people of the Ark-La-Tex quality in visual and performing arts, seminars, workshops, children’s aesthetic education and a variety of creative experiences.

The Red River Revel Arts Festival, the largest outdoor arts festival in North Louisiana, began in 1976 as the Junior League of Shreveport’s Bicentennial gift to the citizens of the region. The annual arts festival has grown to an eight-day annual event, attracting more than 180,000+ people to the Shreveport riverfront. The goal of the festival is to provide the general populace a celebration of the arts that brings them the finest in visual and performing arts experiences. The Revel is designed to be primarily educational in nature, entirely non-commercial, non-political, non-partisan and non-sectarian.

The Revel celebrates the arts with more than 100 juried visual artists from across the country displaying and selling their creations; 22 food booths run by non-profit organizations; morning and afternoon arts education programs; exhibits; a series of readings and lectures; and performing arts programs on four outdoor stages. The Red River Revel offers daily activities on-site for handicapped and senior citizens

Staff Structure

Red River Revel, Inc. is administered by a 30-member Governing Board representing sponsors and the general community. All programs are facilitated by a staff of four full-time people and over 270 volunteer Chairmen over various programs. Nearly 10,000 community volunteers help implement the programs.

About Downtown Shreveport Unlimited

Downtown Shreveport Unlimited

DSU is a private, non-profit membership organization which serves as an advocacy group for Downtown Shreveport. Organized in 1959, DSU has a broad-based 15-member board, contracts for management services with the Downtown Development Authority and has one full-time staff member. DSU’s primary function is to improve the quality of life in the Central Business District by promoting downtown festivals, projects and events, monitoring legislative affairs and encouraging economic development. Funding is derived from membership dues and income from sponsored events.

DSU takes an active role in helping make downtown Shreveport a better place to live, work and play.

DSU assists the DDA and DSDC by working on these important city center initiatives:

• Keeping downtown clean and safe
• Strengthening the core through preservation and beautification
• Participating in a comprehensive Redevelopment Strategy for downtown
• Assisting new festival development and growth
• Working to promote improvement of downtown parking
• Improving downtown mobility
• Advocating casino entertainment district development

About Mudbug Madness

In 1984, a brave and loyal group of North Louisianans decided to take a stand. Tired of hearing: “You people in Shreveport are more like Texans than anything else; You’re hardly a part of Louisiana, at all,” this daring group gathered in the Downtown Shreveport Unlimited office to organize their ranks and pay homage to the most cherished of Louisiana institutions – the crawfish boil! Their mission – to make their crawfish boil the granddaddy of them all.

And Mudbug Madness was born!

What began in 1984 as a two-day street festival in downtown Shreveport is now one of Louisiana’s largest and most popular Cajun festivals, featuring renown Cajun, Zydeco, Blues and Jazz artists, mouth-watering Cajun cuisine, raucous contests, and fun for all ages. Now a four-day festival held each Memorial Day weekend, Mudbug Madness is nationally recognized as one of the Southeast Tourism Society’s Top 20 Events, drawing as many as 56,000 people in one day.

Mudbug Madness created renewed interest in Louisiana’s rich cultural heritage and the event’s original organizers are proud to have brought a little bit of south Louisiana fun north to Shreveport.

Through the years, festival organizers remain dedicated to the original premise of Mudbug Madness: Provide a downtown venue where everybody has a good time celebrating Louisiana’s rich Cajun heritage. But Mudbug Madness is more than just a big crawfish boil. Supporters take their commitment to downtown Shreveport very seriously, and the festival has been successful in producing healthy revenues, a portion of which are reinvested in other downtown endeavors. Through Downtown Shreveport Unlimited, the presenting organization, Mudbug Madness provides sponsorship dollars for other downtown projects and events including: “Let the Good Times Roll,” “Jazz & Gumbo Festival,” “Cinco de Mayo,” “Rockets Over the Red”, “Farmer’s Market” and the Shreveport Police Mounted Patrol Unit.

So thanks to a few visionaries in 1984 and to those who have attended and supported Mudbug Madness over the years, Downtown Shreveport, the heart of our city, continues to be a vital part of community life.