<Tr> <Th> Related to </Th> <Td> Mardi Gras </Td> </Tr> <P> Contraband Days is a 12 - day festival filled with Cajun food, family fun, and festivities . Occurring annually in Lake Charles, it is among the larger celebrations in Louisiana, with an attendance of over 200,000 . The Festival was first held in 1957 . </P> <P> Held during the first two weeks of May, Contraband Days is the city's official celebration of the legend of the pirate Jean Lafitte . History tells that Lafitte and his band of pirates frequented the area's waterways; they are said to have buried Lafitte's contraband somewhere in the city's vicinity . </P> <P> The Contraband Days festivities kick off every year with a pirate ship bombardment to "take control of the city" at the seawall of the Lake Charles Civic Center . A gang of rowdy and unruly buccaneers and "Jean Lafitte" overruns the blazing cannons of the local militia . They then raise their "Jolly Roger" flag and capture the mayor by force with swords drawn and make the mayor walk the plank into the waters of the lake . </P>

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