Suppose relatives are driving in for Veterans Day and the plan was a morning at the Barksdale Global Power Museum on November 11. That plan was never going to work. The museum is closed on federal holidays. Visitors who have no base access and no ID holder to sponsor them also have to send in a pass request at least 30 days before they come.
The gate shapes the whole week. The best-known Barksdale landmark runs on base-access rules. So the public side of the holiday takes place outside the fence: a free festival on Barksdale Boulevard, a parish Tattoo, and a five-day celebration across the river in Caddo Parish.
The museum keeps base hours, and the holiday isn't one of them
The Barksdale Global Power Museum is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is closed weekends, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and every other federal holiday. The outdoor airpark is listed as open seven days a week from dawn to dusk, and it sits on the same active-duty installation.
U.S. citizens who don't already have base access fill out a Visitor Request Form for a museum pass. They email it as a PDF no later than 30 days before the planned visit, then call the Security Forces Pass and ID Office at 318-456-3106 or 318-456-3180 to check its status before arriving. Incomplete forms can be denied without notice. Once a pass is approved, visitors use the North Gate, also called the Bossier Gate, at 449 Davis Ave W, and only on the confirmed date. If you send a request on the day this post publishes, 30 days later is Saturday, Nov. 28, when the museum is closed, so the earliest visit it can cover is the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend.
Households with a Common Access Card, Dependent ID, Retired ID or Veteran ID have another option. The museum says these holders can sponsor their own guests at the Visitor Control Center on Wilbur Wright Drive, and it recommends calling Security Forces there at 318-456-4984 first to confirm requirements. Two more details matter for out-of-town guests. Visitors 18 and older need a valid photo ID at the gate, and since May 7, 2025, Barksdale's visitor passes have required a REAL ID-compliant license or another document on the base's accepted list, such as a U.S. passport or a Department of Defense ID. The base's gate-hours page lists the West Shreveport Gate visitor center as open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily, along with the accepted documents.
With the holiday and weekends removed, a sponsored museum visit during Veterans Day week can happen on Monday, Nov. 9, Tuesday, Nov. 10, Thursday, Nov. 12, or Friday, Nov. 13. The museum also warns that visits can be cut short or denied because of training or real-world events.
So the public festival lands on Barksdale Boulevard
The biggest free event of the week takes place on Barksdale Boulevard itself, with no gate involved. VetFest 2026 is on Saturday, Nov. 7, at East Bank District and Plaza, 630 Barksdale Blvd. in Bossier City. Visit Shreveport-Bossier lists admission as free.
It's put on by Got Your Six Louisiana, a 501(c)(3) that connects the Shreveport-Bossier first-responder community with health, mental-health, counseling, employment and related resources. Members of VFW Post 4588 started the festival in 2020. It's held every year on the weekend nearest Veterans Day, and organizers say everyone is welcome, veteran or not. The listings describe veteran and non-veteran vendors, food trucks, live music, and a kids' zone with a bouncy house and face painting. The organizer's page also promises live bands through the day, a silent auction and guest speakers. No performers had been posted as of this writing.
The published hours don't match, so it's best to arrive early:
- Got Your Six Louisiana: Saturday, Nov. 7, starting at 10 a.m., with no end time posted
- Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs calendar: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Visit Shreveport-Bossier: 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The organizer points people to its Facebook and Instagram for the latest information, so check there for hours closer to the date.
East Bank is an open-container entertainment district, with restaurants and businesses around the plaza where community events and live music happen. No festival-specific parking plan has been announced. Hurricane Alley Live, the free all-ages music venue at 500 Ogilvie Street, publishes a parking map of nearby free and paid lots for the district, with posted signs controlling fees and restrictions.
Saturday also has a separate event on base. The Barksdale FSS calendar lists Splatter-Ops that day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Clear Lake paintball field. The $25 fee covers gear and 500 paintballs, extra bags are $11, and you have to RSVP in advance. The two events run at the same time, one on each side of the gate.
Tuesday the parish observes, then Caddo carries it through the weekend
After VetFest, the public observances move away from the base. The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs lists the Bossier Parish Tattoo for Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 10 a.m. No venue had been posted as of this writing. The holiday itself is quieter on the Bossier side. The Bossier Parish Libraries calendar shows all branches closed on Veterans Day.
Across the Red River, the Veterans Celebration Committee is planning its 16th annual Veterans Day celebration, with events across Caddo Parish from Nov. 11 through Nov. 15. It ends with a parade at the fair. KTAL reported that the grand marshal will be Sam Archie Mattox, whom the committee identifies as Louisiana's oldest living World War II veteran. The parade's exact day and start time hadn't been announced when KTAL's report ran on Oct. 17.
The committee also wants the week to show up on porches. It introduced a Green Light Initiative with the Caddo Parish Commission and Amazon, asking homes, businesses and government buildings to display green lights in support of veterans. Committee chairman Ken Epperson told KTAL:
"We want every resident to get green lights and put them in their front porches."
Epperson also told KTAL the celebration keeps growing, with groups coming from East Texas, southern Arkansas and all over northwest Louisiana. The initiative is Caddo's, but a green porch light works on either side of the river.
Inside the fence, the FSS calendar is already full
For households with base access, these two weeks are packed. The Force Support Squadron calendar at barksdalelife.com runs from Halloween weekend through the middle of November:
- Friday, Oct. 30: Adult Scary Movie Night, with A Quiet Place at 6:30 p.m. and A Quiet Place 2 at 8:15 p.m. Admission is free, pizza and concessions are for sale, and you have to RSVP by Oct. 29.
- Monday, Nov. 2: Pumpkin Paintball at Clear Lake at 5:30 p.m. Equipment rental is free, and paintballs are $2.75 per hopper of about 125 rounds. RSVP by noon that day.
- Friday, Nov. 6: The state veterans calendar lists the 79th Anniversary Air Force Ball at Barksdale, with no public details.
- Saturday, Nov. 7: Splatter-Ops at the Clear Lake field, the same day as VetFest.
- Friday, Nov. 13: A free Family Glow Run on the outdoor track at the Senior Airman Bryan Bell Fitness Center. Check-in is at 5:30 p.m., and the run starts at 6 p.m.
The same fitness center hosts two programs that run through the holiday. Iron Warrior training meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 6:30 to 7:30 a.m. through Nov. 20. It's open to active-duty members, civilians, retirees and dependents. MindGym, a self-guided stress-management program for Airmen, family members and civilians 18 and older, reopened inside the Bell Fitness Center after an Oct. 8 ribbon-cutting, according to Barksdale's public affairs office.
The week, sorted by who can come along
| Day | Event | Where | Base access needed? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Nov. 7 | VetFest 2026 | East Bank Plaza, 630 Barksdale Blvd. | No |
| Sat., Nov. 7 | Splatter-Ops | Clear Lake, on base | Inside the gate |
| Mon., Nov. 9 | Global Power Museum, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | On base | Yes, sponsor or pass approved 30 days ahead |
| Tue., Nov. 10 | Bossier Parish Tattoo, 10 a.m. | Venue not yet posted | No |
| Wed., Nov. 11 | Veterans Day; museum and Bossier libraries closed | Caddo celebration begins | No |
| Thu.–Fri., Nov. 12–13 | Global Power Museum open | On base | Yes, sponsor or pass approved 30 days ahead |
| Fri., Nov. 13 | Family Glow Run | Bell Fitness Center track, on base | Inside the gate; event page says open to everyone |
| Nov. 11–15 | Caddo Veterans Day celebration and parade at the fair | Caddo Parish | No |
If your guests have no base connection and arrive with less than a month's notice, the open dates are Saturday on Barksdale Boulevard, Tuesday's Tattoo once a venue is posted, and the Caddo parade that closes out the week.
Hosting family for the holiday or getting ready for a PCS that overlaps it? Sage knows the gates, the calendars and the drive times between them, and she's glad to help you plan around them. Sage Easter has helped military families settle around Barksdale since 2007. Let's Connect.
