LAKE CHARLES, La. (May 22, 2018) – The Southeast Tourism Society (STS) recently honored the Gulf Coast Shrimp & Jazz Festival as a 2018 Top 20 Event for the month of June.

The whole family can enjoy the savory tastes of gulf shrimp and smooth sounds of local jazz musicians at the Gulf Coast Shrimp & Jazz Festival, held on Saturday, June 23, from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. at the Lake Charles Civic Center. “Jazz After Dark,” an evening concert, starts at 7 p.m. and will feature jazz artists Jeff Kashiwa with The Jairus Daigle Network, and two-time Grammy-nominee Mickey Smith, Jr. with Sax in the City. Admission for the festival is $5 for adults and $2 for kids 12 and under; “Jazz After Dark” tickets are $36 for general admission and can be purchased on Ticketmaster. The festival promotes the cultural importance of jazz, cuisine and the thriving local community and features a unique blend of music, performance, and visual arts. Additional festival information can be found at www.gcshrimpnjazzfest.com.

The Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau is a member of STS, an organization that promotes travel to and within the southeastern part of the United States. The bureau nominates all area fairs, festivals and events quarterly. The STS Top 20 Events marketing program highlights the “best of the best” from submitted entries.

Events are selected from each of the following STS member states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. The Top 20 Events publication is sent to over 1,600 media outlets each quarter, including web, magazines, radio stations, TV stations, AAA publications and newspapers. The combined circulation of organizations using the publication is well into the millions. Therefore, the potential media coverage of these events has made the Top 20 Events list a coveted honor.

For more information, contact the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention and Visitors Bureau at (337) 436-9588, or visit www.visitlakecharles.org.