Every year one of the more interesting events of the legislative session in Louisiana is Industry Day, put on at A.Z. Young Park on the State Capitol grounds by the various lobby groups which represent the oil and gas industry – specifically the Grow Louisiana Coalition, the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association, the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and the Consumer Energy Alliance.

And that annual event is upon us, as it takes place tomorrow (May 1) at 12:30.

Tickets are free for those who register at this link. There’s a free lunch involved, which starts at 12:30, and at 1:00 comes the program.

We’re told all three gubernatorial candidates – John Bel Edwards, Ralph Abraham and Eddie Rispone – will be on hand. This won’t be a debate, per se, but it will be a forum of sorts and an opportunity to measure the three against each other. It’s a pretty good bet Abraham and Rispone will get a better reception than Edwards will given his record where oil and gas is concerned. But regardless of the crowd’s reaction, each of the three will share their vision for the future of industry in Louisiana and discuss solutions to current barriers to growth – and that should make for an interesting exchange.

But most of the crowd will consist of oil and gas industry supporters and professionals in the field, not to mention a wide swath of politicians and political candidates for various offices. Everybody will be for oil and gas, at least tomorrow.

It’s well worth attending, if you have the time and inclination. We’ll certainly be there both to support oil and gas and its crucial importance to Louisiana’s economy and to see how the gubernatorial candidates shape up in one of the first full tests of the campaign.