As tourists and spectators come to Texas for FIFA World Cup 2026, their visit will coincide with another major event happening in the state: the winding down of crawfish season, during which folks gather around to suck the meat out of heaps of boiled crawdads raised in Gulf marshes, swamps and ponds. The end of the season, which typically happens each summer, marks a somber moment in the world of food, but it’s not so bad that we have to descend into grief.

Greg Lutz, a professor of aquaculture at the Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, told Chron many of the growers in Louisiana are shutting down as May becomes June, the typical downturn of the season. For context, the peak of the season, when the largest crawfish can be purchased, is usually March through May. As the summer approaches, the heat forces the crustaceans to burrow and dig in to protect themselves. Likewise, the farmers take the hint and drain the fields as they prepare for next season.

But this year’s strong season appears to be pushing things further along, much of it buoyed by the milder summer of 2025.

“There are some folks that are getting a late crop, and a few people are fishing wild crawfish now,” Lutz said. “But overall, supplies are short and the season is winding down.”

So when will this season end? Vincent Nguyen, co-owner of the acclaimed Houston Viet-Cajun restaurant Crawfish & Noodles, and Miles Garner, owner of Houston caterer Clutch City Crawfish, both pointed to early July as the likely end date. To Garner, it really just depends on the farms, which raise crawfish under conditions they can manage, and how long they want to keep going. 

“It’s hard to give an exact date, but a lot of smaller vendors like myself will only go a couple more weeks,” Garner said. “I would say the goal for most restaurants is July 4.”

Brooks Bassler, owner of Houston seafood-focused restaurant BB’s Tex-Orleans, is bullish for the end of the season. “I’m optimistic with the rain and cooler temps that we will have some decent June crawfish,” Bassler said. More rain means more water for the crawfish to swim around in, and cooler temperatures keep them moving around for longer periods.

For folks traveling to the U.S. for the World Cup who may have never before indulged in a crawfish boil, Houston and to a lesser extent the Dallas-Fort Worth area will be convenient entry points to Louisiana and Cajun cuisines. That includes the aforementioned Viet-Cajun style, which came about after Vietnamese immigrants to Texas and Louisiana following the Fall of Saigon in 1975 brought their own ingredients and flavor profiles to Gulf crawfish boils. 

The challenge for restaurants and caterers fishing for tourist dollars, however, is whether they’ll bite. Garner, who is closing up shop for the season on June 1, said crawfish creates a bit of a paradox: While it’s eaten all over the world, it’s still a niche item. And the fact is, it’s not thought of as a Texas commodity but as a Louisiana one.

“The one I’d be most interested in seeing is the Swedish fan base,” Garner said. Fans of the Swedish national team will visit Texas during the World Cup, as their favorite team will play both in Houston and Arlington. “As you know, we’ve done plenty of Swedish-style crawfish.”