A taste of Louisiana is coming to Selma later this month when the Old Depot Museum hosts its fifth annual Low Country Boil complete with a live Cajun band and of course, the Cajun food.

“It’s great. Once you come, all you do is have fun,” said museum curator Beth Spivey.

“It’s all about hanging with folks from Selma and having a really good time and eating really good food.”

The boil is usually held in April, but Spivey said she is moving it up in hopes of better weather after rain forced the event inside last year. 

“I’m moving it up this year because last year it was hot and it was raining, so I’m hoping by moving it up that it’s still cool and dry,” Spivey said.

The annual boil is the museum’s largest fundraiser for the year, and some might argue the most fun too.

“It’s just so nice that everybody that has ever come, they come again,” Spivey said.

“To have people wanting your event to come around is a very good feeling.”

Spivey said the boil is a good way of seeing old friends and even making new ones, as people from all over Selma and Dallas County come together for the night.

“It’s wonderful to see people that you don’t get to see all the time. It’s a hassle free good time,” Spivey said.

“It’s people that are working in the community, that have businesses here and they want to see Selma grow. You’re just here to come together and celebrate the fact that we’re in a great, historical town, and the museum is just trying to bring it all together.”

And although there is fun to be had, Spivey said the event really goes a long way to keeping the museum up and running and making changes that need to be made.

“There are a lot of changes that need to be made at the museum,” Spivey said.

“We’re trying to fix up the little house to put displays in it, and take the rest of the panel walls out and redo the lighting so it’s better equipped for a museum, not florescent lights that damage the pictures.”

The featured band is The Back Door Band from southwest Louisiana.

Spivey said it’s always fun to have the band there to perform live and add to the atmosphere of the boil.

“The music is just so refreshing and it’s something that nobody gets to hear around Selma or the Black Belt area,” Spivey said.

Spivey said the event usually raises between $7-10,000, but she is hoping that this year’s event will raise even more.

Tickets are on sale at the Old Depot Museum for $30, and Spivey said that businesses or anyone wanting to get a sponsored table to go ahead and sign up because there will only be 30 sponsored tables at the event. Tables are $500 and include an eight-place setting.

Spivey said she has already sold 40 out of 100 tickets, and 15 tables.

The event will be held at the Evans Building on March 23 at 6 p.m.