After months of planning and working with the team from Louisiana Spirits, I am here to share the details on the first Cajun Country Para Con that happened on Saturday, March 23, 2024 in downtown New Iberia. It was a wonderful event and it was amazing to see the community embrace the paranormal celebs that were in town.
I must admit as I walked to The Sliman Theatre with my daughter, I began to get a few flurries of excitement knowing I was going to meet the paranormal celebs that were in town. A few I had never heard of but most of them were favorites from familiar television series on Netflix, The Travel Channel, and YouTube.
As we signed in for our VIP passes and entered the theater, there were rows of tables set up around the building with all the celebs who were ready to do meet and greets, take pictures, and chat about our shared paranormal interest.
 Sarah Lemos visiting with my daughterCajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 |
I was most excited to finally meet one of my mentors and favorite psychic mediums, Sarah Lemos, from Ghosts of Morgan City. I have followed her for awhile, taken one of her signature classes, Pathways to Spirit, and consider her to be a friend. I was so excited to introduce her to Marci Lee, State Director of Louisiana Spirits last summer when we asked her about participating in the event this year.
Sarah is as personable as can be and spent her time doing psychic readings and channeling for the guests who came to her table. From tears, to laughs, and plenty of hugs, Sarah offered a huge smile to everyone who visited her at the event. She said she feels at home here and plans on doing more classes and events in Louisiana. And she said she would definitely come back for the event next year!
 One of the panel discussion reunited Ghosts of Morgan City castSarah Lemos and Jereme Leonard March 23, 2023 Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia |
As we made our way around the tables, we also visited with the headliner for the event, Dave Schrader, known from The Hozier Files and Ghosts of Devil's Perch. Dave is also the author of Theater of the Mind: Tales from the Darkness and also hosts the podcast, The Paranormal 60.
 Visiting with Dave Schrader Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 |  Ghost Hunting Housewives visiting with Dave Schrader during raffle giveaway Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 |
Let me just say that Dave also makes an excellent master of ceremonies! He jokingly kept the panel discussions on time throughout the day with a sense of humor that the attendees enjoyed. We enjoyed chatting with him and learning about the tales behinds the scenes of filming The Hozier Files with Shane Pittman. Together they make a great comic duo who just happening to love paranormal investigating.
The Ghost Hunting Housewives were one of the groups I had not heard off before this event, but I am happy to now call them friends as well. They are non-profit group based in Alabama who investigate historic homes and locations in an effort to raise donations to try and preserve them. They did a raffle for a ghost hunting starter kit during the event and donated the funds they raised to the non-profit charity of the day, Angel Paws Adoption Center.
They absolutely loved visiting New Iberia and enjoyed their stay at the St. Peter House. They also raved about the food and the people of New Iberia who showed them so much love. They will be back in the summer to participate in another investigation with Louisiana Spirits. Once we get the details of any open events, we'll be sure to let you know first.
 Mikayla visiting with Shane Pittman and Josh Purvis of The Searchers Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 |
One of my daughter's favorites were at the event as well. Shane Pittman and Josh Purvis of Searchers were also part of the event this year. These guys were so fun to hang out with and we learned about how each one of them got into paranormal investigating during their panel discussions. They both shared personal stories and words of encouragement for their fans.
They duo has been in Louisiana before and eagerly support the charity events that are held by Louisiana Spirits. Their fans love them and they give that love right back to their fans with ease.
Shane and Josh are also part of Lights Out Industries and are currently working on producing a new paranormal show and podcast with PSYDKicks Paranormal which offers a frightening yet fun look at look at paranormal investigating.
 Aliens and Bigfoot on Main Street in New Iberia at The Sliman Theatre Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 |
One of the most interesting panel discussions I attended was with Daniel Alan Jones, a UFO expert, producer, host, and editor of The Vortex. Daniel is also a media consultant at Roswell Daily Record and he shared some insights on UFO research and reporting from Louisiana in recent years. According to Daniel's presentation, we have had multiple reports of UFO sightings reported in Opelousas, Youngsville, Lake Charles, and New Orleans. He also runs a group on Facebook, Texas UFO Network, that takes these reports seriously and offers anyone interested in learning more about supporting these efforts to join them.
 Overview of Celebrity Guests at in The Sliman Theatre on Main Street in New Iberia Image via Louisiana Spirits Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 |
Next door in The Bayou Teche Museum attendees were able to shop and visit with vendors from all around Louisiana. They had everything from candy to candles for sale.
Psychic Artist and Medium Kayla Matherne offered her psychic drawings for attendees. I have investigated with Kayla before on events with Louisiana Spirits at Victor's Cafeteria and The Greater Iberia Chamber of Commerce building. I've also heard her speak about how she gets the information she draws. Her drawings are beautifully detailed, always seem to be spot on, and her presentations give a layer of history that might not have been uncovered otherwise.
Another Louisiana local from the paranormal scene I got to meet was Kyle Crosby from Louisiana Dread. I love his TikTok videos as he offers not only the details on the legends and tales of local paranormal stories but also details the history of the locations. He is hoping to get some new videos done this year on the Patterson and Berwick areas. I can't wait!
The VIP Experience
If you are someone who enjoys watching the paranormal shows or if you dabble in ghost hunting, the VIP experience during the event is so worth it. After the event ended, the VIP attendees were invited to an after hours investigation from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in couple of locations in downtown New Iberia with some of the paranormal celebs who were in town leading the investigation.
We split in five groups, each lead by one of the visiting paranormal celebs. Jereme Leonard, from Ghosts of Morgan City and 28 Days Haunted on Netflix led a team downstairs in The Daily Iberian building across from The Sliman. We also had Mike Angus from Southern Heat Paranormal lead an investigation upstairs. I was in the group with Mike and we had a few hits on the ovilus, or ghost box, as he asked questions to try an gain some insight on an spirits or activity tied to the building.
 Night investigation with Shane Pittman in The Bayou Teche Museum Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 | After the investigation at The Daily Iberian, my group was led to the back of the new part of The Bayou Teche Museum, where we met up with Shane Pittman from Searchers and The Hozier Files. I had investigated this part of the museum before with Louisiana Spirits so I was interested to see if we would have any responses to our questions or any hits on some of the equipment being used. We were using Boo Bell, which is a homemade REM pod, an Ovilus, and also had a few of the light up cat toys around the museum. We got a couple of direct responses to Shane's questions as well as had a few of the cat toys light up with no interaction from the group that was in the building at the time. This is pretty much the same experience I had on my first investigation in the museum in 2023 with the Louisiana Spirits team. |
After that, we headed to the other side of the museum near the back and joined Josh Purvis from Searchers as he led the next part of the night. We again had the Ovilus and a few EMF meters. I asked about a previous experience I had investigating here where there was reference to Church Alley and the former school down the street. We seemed to get a direct response when we had the word "religion" came across the ghost box.
The last part of the night's investigation was in The Sliman Theatre with Sarah Lemos and Dave Schrader. We did EVP sessions and Dave talked the group about some of the equipment that is used to collect EVPS, or electronic voice phenomenon, while investigating. Dave also pulled a few of the group to do their own questions during our session and with each participant we had some EVP hits. Sarah was also picking up on loved ones from the other side for a few of the participants and was able to share those messages. It was truly an amazing experience to see it all play out first hand.
This Year's Charity Organization: Angel Paws Adoption Center
When I first talked to Marci Lee, State Director of Louisiana Spirits, she knew that overall she wanted the event to be a way to give back to the New Iberia community as a thank you for supporting her team's efforts in recent years. Many residents and local businesses have opened up their doors to allow Marci and her team to hold classes, events, and teach about paranormal investigations. This year a portion of the proceeds from the event went to Angel Paws Adoption Center. I chatted with them during they day and they were so thankful to be able to accept the proceeds from the event.
 Angel Paws Adoption Center and Marci Lee with Louisiana Spirits Image via Louisiana Spirits |
It takes a lot of work and a lot of funds to be able to put on an event like this in our community. Marci hopes to do this event annually and we hope they continue to keep the event in New Iberia. I saw Main Street light up that day and personally watched groups of guests enter several of our local restaurants, stores, and bars that day.
 VIP Group outside of The Sliman Theatre on Main Street Cajun Country Para Con, New Iberia March 23, 2024 |
Attending Cajun Country Para Con was truly a highlight for me and I will remember the experience fondly. From chatting with other fans about experiences and interests, hanging out with my friends from Louisiana Spirits, and meeting so many wonderful people, my daughter and I both will remember this for the rest of our lives.
The goal of Cajun Country Para Con was meant to raise awareness, educate others, unite the paranormal community and giveback to a local charity in Iberia Parish. I'd say that's a win for the first ever Cajun Country Para Con and Iberia Parish.
