Delcambre, LA

Delcambre is an Iberia and Vermilion parish town of 1,793 people at the 2020 census, nine miles east of Abbeville on Louisiana Highway 14. Bayou Carlin, better known locally as the Delcambre Canal, runs through town and gives the place its water-facing shape. The name comes from Charles and Louis Delcambre, brothers from Belgium who settled in the area, and the town sits squarely in Acadiana's Cajun Heartland.

The canal leads north to Lake Peigneur and out toward Vermilion Bay, so shrimp boats and working docks matter here in a practical way. Delcambre's five-day Shrimp Festival turns that economy into a town-wide gathering, with a fleet blessing, shrimp cook-off, pageants, food booths, carnival rides, and fais-do-do music. A seafood market sells fresh shrimp in season, and Louisiana 14 points east to New Iberia and west to Abbeville. Because the town crosses the Iberia-Vermilion line, school and parish services can change by which side of Bayou Carlin you call home. Delcambre is a fishing town first, with the canal doing the orientation work.