“You can hear Cajun and zydeco music and dance anywhere, but nowhere else do you do it in a zoo,” says Sarah Burnette. That might be an odd endorsement—there are many things we rarely do near caged animals—but Burnette gets giddy when she describes the dancers as they form a circle in front of the Capital One Stage at Audubon Zoo during Swamp Fest, which takes place November 1 and 2 this year. “Everyone is so into it.”

The Louisiana Swamp Fest is in its 24th ...