Shreveport - Bossier, Louisiana's Other Side

There’s no doubt you’ve indulged in the Mudbug Madness Festival – or maybe you jammed to George Clinton and Parliament at last year’s Red River Revel Arts Festival.

Or maybe you’ve watched alligator feedings at Gators and Friends, found a new wardrobe at the Louisiana Boardwalk or simply hit the slots at one of our riverboat casinos.

Whatever your pleasure, you managed to discover your other side while living it up in Shreveport-Bossier, and now, the Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau wants to hear all about your experience!

We love all the things that make Shreveport-Bossier: Louisiana’s Other Side a great tourist destination. But we want to know what you think and what you did, and better yet – we want to give you a chance to get paid for it!

 While here at our Inside the Other Side blog, share your experience during one of your past visits for a chance to win a $100 American Express gift card. If you have multiple experiences, feel free to write about them all. At the end of the contest on November 7, we will randomly select an individual as the winner of the $100 gift card prize - just in time for the holidays!

Let the fun begin!

 Enter your experience as a Comment below. Please see the Rules and Regulations of this contest for more details.

You could create your very holiday shopping spree with a $100 American Express gift card! Enter to win!

If you are looking for some opportunities to have fun this weekend, then spend some time in Shreveport-Bossier. We have plenty of hotel availability and lots of southern hospitality awaiting you.

 Of course you can enjoy the 24-hour riverboat gaming action at Horseshoe, DiamondJacks, Boomtown, Sam’s Town or Eldorado. The Louisiana Boardwalk is always fun and so is Sci-Port Discovery Center, Gators and Friends Alligator Park, and American Rose Center.

 But you can also enjoy a free concert sponsored and hosted by Harrah’s Louisiana Downs, Friday, September 19. The country music band Lonestar will take the stage at 7 p.m. This multi-platinum recording group promises to give an unforgettable experience. This has to be one of the best deals in town, an absolutely free concert.

 If you like the arts check out Clyde Connell’s exhibit at Artspace now through October 25. Connell is considered one of Louisiana’s greatest visual artists and her sculptures have been shown in New York, Paris, Geneva, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

 New for this area is the Southern Black Theatre Festival. This two-weeklong festival will feature the exhibit “Fade to Black: A Visual Experience” at the Multicultural Center of the South. This exhibit opens this weekend and is free to the public.

 Another festival event this weekend is the Black Youth Talent Showcase. Disney Channel Star Giovanni Samuels will host this event of the brightest talent, Saturday, Sept. 20 at the Performing Arts Center located in downtown Shreveport. This event is $10.

 If you are looking for some other fun things to see and do check out www.shreveportbossierfunguide.com. If you do go to any of these events, I’d love to hear all about your experience.

Media contact: Eric Gipson (318) 424-8678; egipson@sciport.orgPrograms contact:   

Robert McGuire (318) 424-8714; rmcguire@sciport.org    

   Shreveport, LA — Sci-Port Discovery Center, the hands-on science and entertainment center on the Shreveport Riverfront, is offering free admission to Hurricane Ike evacuees staying at emergency shelters. Sci-Port is also offering “Buy One/Get One Fee” admission to Ike evacuees at hotels and campgrounds.    Proof of occupancy at the shelters, hotels or campgrounds is necessary for the free admission or discounts.

   Sci-Port, recently named one of America’s Top-10 Science Centers by Parents Magazine, features 290 science, space science, technology and math exhibits, daily changing programs, an IMAX Dome Theatre, Space Dome Planetarium, gift shop and café.

   Sci-Port is located at Clyde Fant Parkway at Lake Street on the downtown Shreveport Riverfront. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

   For general information call (318) 424-3466, toll-free (877) 724-7678, or visit Sci-Port’s website at www.sciport.org.

   Hotels in Shreveport-Bossier are booked through the weekend, and some through early next week, as Hurricane Ike nears landfall on the southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana coasts.

   The storm, which is expected to reach Category 3 strength, will hit sometime late Friday or early Saturday. Shelters in Shreveport-Bossier also have been activated and include the state-operated former Sam’s Club facility at 8810 Jewella Ave. for evacuated from Calcasieu Parish. Those with animals may contact the Caddo Parish Animal Shelter at 1500 Monty St. assistance (318-226-6624).

   The Red Cross activated a shelter for evacuees at Southern University-Shreveport Friday morning.

   Bossier Animal Control Shelter on Old Shed Road in Bossier City has opened and will only shelter pets whose owners have critical transportation needs. Reports claiming the Bossier Animal Control Shelter is being used as anything but a shelter for pets with critical transportation needs are false.

   According to emergency.louisiana.gov website, the following parishes have issued mandatory or voluntary evacuations for all or parts of parishes ahead of Hurricane Ike:

Calcasieu Parish - Mandatory Evacuation for residents in travel trailers, mobile homes, and low-lying areas, as well as home-bound, special needs residents.   

Cameron Parish - Mandatory Evacuation for entire parish.   

Iberia Parish - Voluntary Evacuation for low-lying areas.   

Jefferson Parish - Mandatory Evacuation of Grand Isle.   

Jefferson Davis Parish - Voluntary Evacuation for residents with special needs.   

Lafourche Parish - Mandatory Evacuation for all areas south of the Leon Theriot Floodgates in Golden Meadow and the community of Pointe-Aux-Chenes.   

Livingston Parish - Voluntary Evacuation of southern and eastern portions of parish.   

Plaquemines Parish - Voluntary Evacuation of entire parish.   

St. Bernard Parish -Mandatory Evacuation of anyone not inside the hurricane protection levee.   

St. Mary Parish - Voluntary Evacuation south of the Intercoastal and in Franklin south of the railroad track. In Baldwin, the voluntary evacuation extends to residents of mobile homes and travel trailers.   

St. Martin Parish - Voluntary Evacuationin Bell River and Stevensville for low-lying and mobile home/travel trailers.   

Terrebonne Parish - Voluntary Evacuation of southern portion of parish.

Vermilion Parish - Mandatory Evacuation for Vermilion Parish below LA Highway 14 to include all of Erath and Delcambre and Medical Special Needs patients south of LA Highway 14 and on the west side of the parish from the Meridian Line Road to the Cameron and Jeff Davis parish lines.

(Former) Sam's Club – State operated center

8810 Jewella Ave.

Shreveport, LA  71108

 Red Cross 

4221 Linwood Ave.

Shreveport, LA 71108 (318) 865-9545 

Many Louisiana residents that fled north to Shreveport-Bossier before Hurricane Gustav hit are now returning home as various parishes allow residents to return home. Local shelters are also reporting dwindling numbers of evacuees.  

We all are so grateful that the hurricane did not do the damage anticipated, but for many there is a lot of work to do before they can return to some semblance of normal life.

Though many people are able to return home, widespread electricity outages are still a problem. One visitor to our blog noted that for this very reason there may be people who need to return to Shreveport-Bossier and stay in area hotels. The media is reporting that FEMA may pay for hotel expenses, particularly for those individuals who are without electricity and/or water and cannot yet return home.

So we did a call around this afternoon and have learned that there is some availability in area hotels. There are more than 40 properties that have vacant hotel rooms. Some that have substantial availability include: Days in Shreveport, Ramada Inn and Conference Center, Rodeway Inn & Suites, Econo Lodge Inn & Suites to name a few.

Please click here www.louisianasotherside.com/Accommodations/All_Accommodations/s577 for a complete list of hotels. Be sure to call prior to your arrival to double check hotel availability.

Residents can register with FEMA online at http://www.fema.gov or by calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362). The hearing and speech impaired may call 1-800-462-7585 (TTY). The toll-free telephone numbers are available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.

Applicants registering for aid should be prepared to provide basic information about themselves (name, permanent address, and phone number), insurance coverage and any other information to help substantiate needs.

Our prayers and thoughts are with all the people affected and displaced by the storm. Please check back often for updates.