Discover Ball: Local History, Festivals and Hotels

Ball offers several concrete ways to plan a stay: the town’s history, annual festivals, and a park with a walking and jogging trail. If you’re looking for a hotel for a trip to Ball, first consider whether your trip will be shaped mainly by a festival, an interest in local history, or outdoor exercise.

Ball and its local history

The earliest documented settlers in Ball date to the period between 1840 and 1863. Captain Chittenden Edwin Ball was from Union County, Kentucky, and piloted steamboats on the Red River as far as Alexandria. In the late 1880s, he settled in Rapides Parish and founded Sweet Home Mill there. In 1893, he named a sawmill town after himself.

The dates bring together two periods: 1840 to 1863 relates to the earliest settlers, while 1893 marks the later naming of the sawmill town. This makes the town’s history readable as a sequence of different milestones rather than a single founding date.

Festivals throughout the year

The city holds an annual Mardi Gras parade as well as Christmas Festival events. The Moon Pie Festival also recurs annually; the second edition was announced for 2025 and the third for 2026. Festival dates, parade routes, and program details may change. Therefore, check the information for the period when you plan to travel.

At the 2025 and 2026 editions of the Moon Pie Festival, live music by “The Eighties Experience” closed the day’s program each time. The program also included the “Moon Pie Cooking Contest” and accompanying music by Avery Michaels. These program items apply to the respective editions; the program may change.

The 2025 Mardi Gras parade was planned to travel through the town of Ball. It was scheduled to end at the steps of Ball Town Hall in the Ball Food parking lot. For a later edition, check the current route information, as the route may change.

The town’s history and its festivals provide different time frames: the early settlement history and the later naming span 1840 to 1893, while attending a festival is tied to a single edition. If you’d like to combine both aspects, you can plan your stay around a suitable event date and include local history as another focus.

Walks and getting oriented

A park with a walking and jogging trail has been established in Ball. In March 2026, the address for Walking Trail Park was given as 100 Municipal Lane; check this location information locally before traveling. If you’d like to include walking or jogging opportunities in your trip plans, the park information can serve as a point of reference.

Discover more destinations: Pineville, Boyce, Alexandria.

Go to the main travel overview: Rapides Parish.