Community
Iberia Parish boasts small town charm, first-rate schools, the finest foods and warmest people. We have beautiful parks, sports facilities and a love for arts, creativity, and friendliness. We’re located in the center of it all, so it’s no surprise that on any given day, you’ll see our beautiful parks filled with a diverse collection of families or citizens just taking a stroll on one of the walking tracks. We’re the perfect combination of historic roots and new branches!
From author James Lee Burke’s famed detective Dave Robicheaux’s stomping grounds to the sites for multiple movies and TV shows, Iberia Parish is steeped in acclaim, with a diverse and inclusive lifestyle that spans across multiple cultures.
Nestled on the banks of the Bayou Teche, New Iberia is renowned for its food, music, and festivals that draw on the melting pot of cultures in this community founded by Spaniards in 1779. Dedicated to preserving its rich history, Main Street and historic Downtown New Iberia are peppered with thriving local businesses and sites listed among the National Register Historic District. The Bayou Teche Museum, Shadows-on-the-Teche antebellum home, Conrad Rice Mill/Konriko Company Store, and Jefferson Island Rip Van Winkle Gardens offer a deeper view of the storied history of the area.
Rich in Heritage
Connected by scenic highways and moss draped oak trees, the nearby communities of Jeanerette, Loreauville, and Delcambre have rich ties to the boating and shrimping industries. Local festivals celebrating these industries bring together the diverse population of the parish.
In addition to being known as the Birthplace of the Acadians, Iberia Parish is an inclusive home to a thriving Asian community, with the Lao New Year Festival held each Easter Weekend in nearby Coteau. Opening up the local Buddhist Temple for this three-day fete, thousands are drawn to this vibrant festival in a small rural neighborhood of Iberia Parish.
Celebrating the legacy of jazz musician Bunk Johnson, the annual Bunk Johnson Jazz Festival in New Iberia raises money for the development of the Bunk Johnson Center of the Arts. The festival focuses on economically, geographically and socially disadvantaged populations with limited access to the arts through activities, events, and performances celebrating visual and performing arts, music and heritage.
Explore the Area
Jeanerette
Jeanerette’s rich history dates back to its days as a borderland between the Attakapas and Chitimacha. Growing from a booming cypress lumber industry and sawmill town to one rich in farming history, for nearly 200 years sugar production has been the center of industry in the town. Known as the “Sugar City,” Jeanerette is a small city with traditional community living. The municipal airport accommodates one of the world’s largest aerial agriculture dusting and seeding operations, feeding the nearby sugarcane fields.
Loreauville
The Village of Loreauville offers traditional Louisiana culture, sugar cane farming, cattle ranching, a winding bayou and boat building facilities. Considered the birthplace of the Acadians, for those exiled from Nova Scotia, Loreauville’s rich soil supported the agriculture of the area, with sugar cane growing abundantly in the fertile land. Since the establishment of the village, boat building, both aluminum work vessels and traditional Cajun wood Pirogues, has remained the predominant industry of the area.
Delcambre
Harvesting an abundance of seafood from its rich waterways, Delcambre’s shrimping industry and associated Shrimp Festival make this small town a major Louisiana tourist attraction. Linked along Hwy 14 to Lake Peigneur on Jefferson Island as well as the Gulf of Mexico by the Delcambre Canal, the Delcambre Direct Seafood marketplace is famed for allowing consumers to purchase shrimp and seafood fresh off the boat at the local pier. The monthly Seafood and Farmers Market is one of the most unique farmer’s market experiences in the country.
The Islands
Five wooded “islands” rise above the grassy marshland and prairies, sitting atop large salt domes that are essential to the state’s oil, gas, and chemical industries. Jefferson Island, home to Rip Van Winkle Gardens and Avery Island, the birthplace of TABASCO brand pepper sauce, are joined by Weeks Island, Cote Blanche and Belle Isle as notable tourist attractions in the area.
live, work, and play
All Roads Lead to Iberia
Deep in the heart of Cajun Country, and where “Laissez les bon temps rouler!” is the rallying cry of partygoers, let Iberia Parish be your home. A place where you can live, work, and play, Iberia Parish boasts rural areas with an urban feel. Highly connected to the surrounding Lafayette metropolitan area, you have access to all the amenities of the city without the hustle and bustle of heavy traffic.
Encouraging community participation across the parish, the Iberia Development Foundation is able to invest in the community and have a positive impact in the lives of those in need. Founded in 2011 as a 501c3 Non-Profit foundation to perform community and economic development activities within Iberia Parish.
We bring together all the information and services needed by site selectors, expanding businesses and entrepreneurs to locate, create and operate business enterprises in Iberia Parish. Whether your road to successful growth or expansion lies in large or small business or any in between, all roads lead to Iberia!