Experience Ruston Blog

Desi Bourgeois Brings a Taste of Ruston to Dallas

Ruston Chef is one of 17 Louisiana Chefs Selected to Participate in Culinary Event this WeekRUSTON, LA (October 23, 2023) – Desi Bourgeois is one of 17 top Louisiana chefs heading to Dallas tofeature t [...]

Desi Bourgeois Recognized as a Louisiana Chef to Watch

Desi Bourgeois, owner of Grown & Grazed and the Heard Freighthouse Food Park in downtown Ruston, has been named a 2023 Chef to Watch by Louisiana Cookin’ Magazine. He was presented the award at the Chefs to Watch Dinner on Thursday, October 12 at the Southern Hotel in Covington, La.  [...]

Ruston’s Bad Wolf BBQ Receives Two Awards at Louisiana Food and Wine Festival

Bad Wolf BBQ, housed in the Heard Freighthouse Food Park in downtown Ruston, was awarded the Judge’s Choice for “Best Overall” dish and People’s Choice for “Best Meat” at t [...]

Experience Ruston Hires Director of Marketing & Communications

Tori Davis has joined the Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau (Experience Ruston) as the Director of Marketing and Communications.

Tori Davis has joined the Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau (Experience Ruston) as the Director of Marketing and Communications. Davis previously served as the Chief Communications Officer at Green Clinic in Ruston and as [...]

City of Ruston Announces Buc-ee's is Coming to Ruston, LA

City of Ruston Announces Buc-ee’s is Coming to Ruston, LA (RUSTON, LOUISIANA) Mayor Ronny Walker and the City of Ruston are pleased [...]

Emily F. Stogner Named CVB Marketing & Communications Director

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau (Experience Ruston) has selected Emily Free Stogner as Marketing & Communications Director.

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau (Experience Ruston) has selected Emily Free Stogner as Marketing & Communications Director. “We’re excited to have Emily join our team,” said Amanda Carrier, CVB President &a [...]

FREE PERFORMANCE OF WORLD RENOWN ZYDECO BAND IN RUSTON NOV 4TH

Terrance Simien, a two-time Grammy Award winning artist, will be lighting up the stage with his band the Zydeco Experience at 7pm, Nov 4th in Ruston at the Dixie Center for the Arts. An 8th generation African American roots and Louisiana Creole musician, Terrance has played all over the world, including at Louisiana’s own New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival for the past 34 ye [...]

Experience Ruston Awards Grant to Friends of Ruston Skatepark

Experience Ruston (Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau) is excited to announce its support of the Ruston Skatepark through a $100,000 grant that will be awarded to the Friends of Ruston Skatepark. Friends of Ruston Skatepark's mission is t [...]

Experience Ruston Celebrates National Travel & Tourism Week

Experience Ruston is proud to join US Travel and thousands of travel and tourism profess [...]

Lincoln Parish Park Wins 2022 Louey Award

Experience Ruston is proud to announce Lincoln Parish Park as the recipient of the Louisiana Travel Association (LTA) 2022 Louey Award for Campground/RV Park of the Year. LTA presented the award to James Ramsaur, Director of Lincoln Parish Park, during its Annual Meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 2 in Alexandria, [...]

Grambling State University Wins Hospitality Award

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to announce the 2021 Lincoln Parish Hospitality Award recipient is Grambling State University. The award will be presented at the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet on Tuesday, January 25, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. at the Ruston Civic Center. Since 1999, the Ruston Lincoln CVB has recognized members of the community who [...]

Chris “Moose” Garriga, Johnny Gaudet and the Ponchatoulas & Log Cabin Team Win Hospitality Award

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to announce the 2020 Lincoln Parish Hospitality Award recipients are Chris “Moose” Garriga, Johnny Gaudet, and the Ponchatoulas & Log Cabin Team. The award will be presented at the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 at 6:00 p.m. at the Lincoln Parish Library Events Ce [...]

Grambling State to host Brown Girls Do Gymnastics Conference with The Doug Williams Center

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau supports the conference with eyes on changing the landscape of HBCU sports Grambling, LA – On July 23-25, 2021, Brown Girls Do Gymnastics’ 5th Annual Conference will be hosted on Grambling State University’s campus in collaboration with The Doug Williams Center and Ruston Lincoln Convention & Vi [...]

Tori W. Davis Named CVB Marketing Director

“I am beyond excited to be returning to the organization where my passion for Ruston/Lincoln Parish and the travel and tourism industry was born,” said Davis. “I am grateful to have been given this opportunity and look forward to working with this outstanding team to develop and market Lincoln Parish as a leading destination in Louisiana.”

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau (Experience Ruston) has selected Tori Ward Davis as Marketing Director. Davis will succeed Amanda Carrier, who was named President & CEO of the Convention and Visitors Bureau in March 2020. “We’re thrilled to have Tori joining our team,” said Amanda Carrier, CVB President & CEO. “The experience and energ [...]

CVB and Lincoln Parish Police Jury Enter Into New CEA

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau has entered into a new Cooperative Endeavor Agreement with the Lincoln Parish Police Jury to ensure sustainability of Lincoln Parish Park. The agreeme [...]

Amanda Q. Carrier Named CVB President & CEO

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau (Experience Ruston) has selected Amanda Quimby Carrier as President & CEO. Carrier will succeed Travis Napper, who announced his resignation in late February to accept the job of Director of Arkansas Tourism. Napper will assume his new role on April 1.  “On behalf of the CVB’s Board of Directors, we are excited tha [...]

Experience Ruston Wins STS 2020 Shining Example Award

Experience Ruston is proud to announce they have been named the recipient of the Southeast Tourism Society (STS) 2020 Shining Example Award for Tourism Office of the Year. The Experience Ruston team accepted the award Tuesday, Feb. 11 in Little R [...]

Mamon Graduates Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy

    Experience Ruston (Ruston Lincoln Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau) celebrated the graduation of Jennifer Mamon, Sales & Services Director for the CVB, from the Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy at the Louisiana Travel As [...]

Experience Ruston Wins Louisiana Travel Association 2020 Louey Award

Experience Ruston (Ruston Lincoln Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau) is proud to announce that the organization is the recipient of the Louisiana Travel Association (LTA) 2020 Louey Award winner for Outstanding Convention and Visitors Bureau of the Year. LTA introduced the CVB as one of the winners during its Annual Meeting Thursday in Charenton, LA.  This year, LTA presented [...]

Dixie Youth World Series Volunteers Win Hospitality Award

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to announce the 2019 Hospitality Award recipients are the Dixie Youth World Series Volunteers. The award was presented at the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet on Thursday, January 23 at the Ruston Civic Center and accepted by the event’s volunteer coordinator Haley Perot. 

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to announce the 2019 Hospitality Award recipients are the Dixie Youth World Series Volunteers. The award was presented at the Ruston-Lincoln [...]

Dixie Youth World Series Honored as a 2019 Champion of Economic Impact

  Experience Ruston is excited to announce that Sports Destination Management, the leading publication with the largest circulation of sports event planners and tournament directors in the sports tourism market, has announced th [...]

SportsEvents Announces Ruston Sports Complex as a 2020 Readers’ Choice Award Winner

SportsEvents Announces Ruston Sports Complex as a 2020 Readers’ Choice Award Winner SportsEvents Media Group, the leading industry publication focused exclusively on helping sports event planners produce excellent competiti [...]

Experience Ruston and Up with People Host Peace Day Celebration  

Experience Ruston and global non-profit educational program Up with People are partnering to host a Peace Day Dance Celebration Saturday, Sept. 21 in Railroad Park located in downtown Ruston. The event will be free to attend and open to the public.&n [...]

Strong Year Reported for Tourism in Lincoln Parish

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is pleased to share that 2018 was a strong year for tourism in Lincoln Parish. The latest information released in the Tourism Spending in the Parishes Report done by the University of New Orleans (UNO) Hospitality Research Center shows an increase in tourism revenue in the parish.    Lincoln Parish was up 8.21% in direct [...]

Ruston Sports Complex Now Open

Ruston Sports Complex Now Open Ruston’s new sports complex is now open. On Friday, July 26 the Ruston Sports Complex will host the Dixie Youth World Series, a two-week long event. The first week will bring in 40 t [...]

RUSTON STRONG

A message from Travis Napper, President/CEO of the Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau As most of you know, and some of you experienced first-hand, Ruston was hit by an EF3 tornado in the early hour of Thursday, April 25. While much of Ruston was spared, there were multiple areas of our community that received devastating damage. With heavy hearts we mourn the [...]

Tourism Development Grants Available

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is now accepting applications for our matching grant program called Make It Happen. This is a tourism development matching grant program that aims to help create and fund special events [...]

Ruston will host American Crappie Trail National Championship

    RUSTON, LA (Mar. 25, 2019) – The Ruston Lincoln Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau (CVB) is excited to announce that Ruston will host the American Crappie Tra [...]

Loyal Blue Weekend wins 2019 Louey Award

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to announce the Louisiana Travel Association (LTA) introduced Loyal Blue Weekend as the winner of the 2019 Festival/Event of the Year during its Annual Meeting Thursday, Jan. 24 in [...]

Bustamante, Causey Win Hospitality Award

The Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to announce the 2018 Hospitality Award will be given to Nicholas Bustamante and Whitney Trisler Causey for their design and implementation of three murals in Ruston. The award will be presented at the Ruston-Lincoln Chamber of Commerce Awards Banquet on Tuesday, January 15 at the Ruston Civic Center. Bustamante and Causey comp [...]

Grambling State Selected to Host Intercollegiate Football Championship through 2020

GRAMBLING, LA – December 3, 2018 – Today, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced that Grambling State University will host the 2019 and 2020 Football National Champion [...]

Napper elected as chairman of Louisiana Travel Association’s board

Travis Napper, President/CEO of the Ruston Lincoln Convention & Visitors Bureau was installed as chairman of the Louisiana Travel Association (LTA), formerly Louisia [...]

Louisiana Tech University College of Education Wins Hospitality Award

The Ruston Lincoln Parish Convention & Visitors Bureau is proud to announce the 2017 recipient of the Lincoln Parish Hospitality Award is the Louisiana Tech University College of Education. The College of Educati [...]