Louisiana is known for its beautiful bayous and swamps, Mardi Gras festivities, Cajun, Creole and Acadian cultures. It is also renowned for its university towns that are eager to help meeting planners tap into the local college spirit as a way to enliven conferences and events.
Hammond
Less than an hour northwest of New Orleans and east of Baton Rouge, Hammond is home to Southeastern Louisiana University. Downtown Hammond is less than a mile from campus and easily walkable. The downtown area features more than 40 locally owned bars and restaurants.
Hammond fully embraces Southeastern’s athletics programs, and the school’s green and gold colors are represented throughout the city. Meeting groups wanting to incorporate school spirit into their conferences can attend college sporting events, from soccer to baseball, or invite Roomie the Lion, Southeastern’s mascot, to get attendees fired up before lunch.
The largest meeting venue in the city is Southeastern’s Student Union. The Grand Ballroom can host 700 banquet-style and 1,000 for a lecture, and the Large Ballroom can host 450 for a banquet. Three smaller ballrooms can accommodate 80 for a banquet. Combined they can host 248 for a banquet and 525 for a lecture.
The Holiday Inn Hammond features 3,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, with four flexible meeting rooms and a pre-function area. The largest room can host 130 for a banquet. Unique meeting venues include Covey Rise Lodge in nearby Husser or the Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, an 80-year-old venue owned by the university that seats 830 in Hainkel Hall.
Natchitoches
Natchitoches is the oldest French settlement in the Louisiana Purchase. It is steeped in Creole culture due to its French, Spanish and Native American roots. The small community sits on Cane River Lake, a former river that was dammed up. The city itself has fewer than 20,000 residents, and Northwestern State University adds 8,500 students to the mix.
Meeting groups can book events on campus or take advantage of NSU’s many sporting events. Meeting groups can also invite faculty to speak at their events. The Student Union has several smaller meeting rooms and a large ballroom that can be rented for events of up to 400.
The city has about 750 guest rooms, along with bed and breakfasts and Airbnbs. The Natchitoches Event Center features a 15,000-square-foot exhibit hall, which can be divided into smaller breakout rooms, three 1,200-square-foot meeting rooms and an executive boardroom. The facility can host groups of up to 1,000 people. The Chateau Saint Denis Hotel is across from the events center. It has 4,000 square feet of flexible meeting space that can accommodate groups of up to 200.
Groups can cruise down the river in a paddle wheeler or take a guided tour of the city’s historic district by horse and carriage. The former Texas and Pacific Railway Depot, which is one of the last remaining structures in the state that was left segregated, has been turned into the visitor center for the Cane River Creole National Historical Park, which is on the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail. The park itself includes two French Creole cotton plantations, Oakland and Magnolia, and a total of 67 historic structures to explore.
Ruston
Ruston has two major universities within six miles of each other, Louisiana Tech University and Grambling State University, a historically Black college. Both universities have made their mark on the town, including through their arts and theater programs. Student murals dot the downtown area, and Ruston’s downtown hosts pep rallies before every football game, uniting residents and students.
Groups can host smaller events of up to 150 at the Eddie G. Robinson Museum at Grambling State. Robinson was one of the winningest coaches in college football history, and the museum details his journey as a coach to the championships and what it meant to the football program there.
Several groups have incorporated a visit to Grambling to see their choir and famous marching band practice as part of their events.
The Lincoln Parish Library Events Center is the most popular event venue in Ruston, with a large ballroom that can host 675 guests and four smaller event spaces. The Club Lounge on the third floor of the Davison Athletics Complex at Louisiana Tech can be rented out for formal banquets, receptions or corporate meetings of up to 425. The space offers spectacular views of the football field.
The Ruston Civic Center offers one large space for up to 600 guests. Ruston has 750 hotel rooms that are all within one to two miles of downtown Ruston and Louisiana Tech. Grambling doesn’t have nearby hotels, so groups tend to meet and stay in Ruston.
The Outdoor Wilderness Learning Center offers fun group experiences, such as ropes courses, team building and ziplines. Its conference center can accommodate 200 guests.
Alexandria
Alexandria is home to Louisiana State University Alexandria. The campus is less than 10 miles from the downtown area, and meeting groups can incorporate college spirit into their events through campus tours, attending local sporting events or hosting guest lecturers from the university.
Groups can rent several spaces on campus, including the Black Box Theater, which can host 150; the Brumfield Caffey Ballroom in the Student Center, which can accommodate 500; and the Science Auditorium, which can each host up to 250. Several smaller rooms are also available for breakout spaces.
Alexandria and its neighbor across the Red River, Pineville, are known for their proximity to the Kisatchie National Forest, bayous and manmade lakes. The Alexandria Levee Park offers festival grounds and an amphitheater right on the banks of the river, and boat tours highlight the river’s role in shaping Louisiana history.
The main meeting venue in Alexandria is the Randolph Riverfront Center, with 67,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 32,000-square-foot ballroom that can host up to 2,800 theater style or 125 guests at round tables. Several smaller meeting rooms work well for breakout sessions, an outdoor plaza is perfect for outdoor events, and a large pre-function area is ideal for receptions and networking events. The center is connected to two hotels, the 93-room Hotel Bentley and a 168-room Holiday Inn, both of which have meeting spaces.
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Lafayette
Lafayette is in the heart of Louisiana’s Cajun country and is famous for its cuisine. The University of Louisiana campus is less than a mile from downtown, making it the consummate college town.
The Student Union overlooks a manmade swamp, bringing some of what makes the state special home to campus visitors. The Atchafalaya Ballroom can host 592 guests for a banquet or 1,000 in a theater setup. There are four outdoor spaces that can host groups of between 100 and 1,550, as well as several smaller meeting rooms and a small theater for 250.
The Blackham Coliseum is a 25,000-square-foot multipurpose arena with seating for up to 9,800. The facility can host rodeos, livestock shows and gumbo cookoffs. The Louisiana Immersive Technology Enterprise Center features an egg-shaped dome where groups can host events. The Science Museum, which is in downtown Lafayette but is owned by the university, is a wonderful off-site venue where groups can host events and explore the museum’s exhibits. Groups can purchase tickets for baseball, football and softball games as a way to bring attendees closer to the university action.
The city has 4,800 guest rooms currently, with a couple of new hotel properties in the works, including the Doubletree by Hilton Lafayette. The CAJUNDOME Convention Center features nearly 77,000 square feet of space, including a 37,301-square-foot exhibit hall and 39,685 square feet of meeting space.
