Fall into the River Parishes WEDNESDAY, October 15, 2014
stephen.hemelt@lobservateur.com
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Special Section
Festival fun offers plenty to do By Monique Roth
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L’Observateur
ootball and soccer game schedules — as well as pumpkin patch visits — are sure to be items scribbled on calendars this fall, but for many residents in the River Parishes, no fall schedule is complete without a favorite South Louisiana tradition — local festivals. River Region festivals have the reputation of attracting thousands of area residents and tourists to beautiful plantation grounds and parish parks for what is always a good time of family fun, delicious food and numerous arts and craft vendors. Kimmie Carlos, executive director with New Orleans Plantation Country, said with two new fall festivals and annual favorites returning, the fall in the River Parishes will be filled with festival fun. “There’s something for everyone,” Carlos said of the fall’s festivals, which offer arts and crafts, bonfires, vendors, food and music. “Louisiana has over 400 festivals a year.” She said each festival fills a particular niche in the area, each “highlighting what is unique to our area.” Carlos said October will prove to be a particularly festival-filled month in the River Region, as many festivals will be presented to area residents and visitors from all over the state.
Alexia Williams, with Evelyn Vicknair, rejoices after throwing a ping pong ball in a goldfish bowl at last year’s Andouille Festival.
St. John Parish will host the 41st St. John the Baptist Parish Andouille Festival this weekend, Oct. 17-19, at the Highway 51 Park and St. John Community Center in LaPlace. “If you can cook it, kill it or eat it, there’s a festival for it,” Carlos said with a laugh of local festivals. The Andouille Festival features music, good times and, of course, great food featuring andouille, the sausage for which the festival was named and LaPlace is known for. Every year thousands of people merge upon the festival grounds for a fun-filled weekend, highlighted by an on-site gumbo cook-off, jazz brunch, andouille-eating contest and a silent auction. The festival, a parish-sponsored
event, supports non-profit organizations and local businesses. One annual event spawned from the fest is the Andouille Run. The 36th annual Andouille Run will be held at 8 a.m. Sunday and includes a five-mile run and a twomile run/walk. Proceeds from the run will benefit the “Keep St. John Beautiful” campaign. “The Andouille Festival is an opportunity for our community to showcase and celebrate our unique heritage and citizenry,” Parish President Natalie Robottom said. Another exciting local fall fest will be San Francisco Plantation’s first ever Frisco Fall Arts and Crafts Festival. Kim Fontenot, general manager of Garyville’s San Francisco
Plantation, announced earlier this year the plantation would host a fall festival for the first time on Oct. 25 and 26. She said the decision to hold a fall fest was made after Oak Alley Plantation officials announced they would discontinue their annual fall fest. Fontenot said the fest will be a lot like the plantation’s popular spring fest and include a barbecue contest, plenty of food, craft vendors, a petting zoo, pony rides and a bungee trampoline. She said the fall fest will be the first time the plantation has opened up one of its festivals to food vendors, which means the food assortment and offerings should be substantially larger than in the past. Fontenot said a beer garden and several full bars will also be offered at the festival. During the same weekend as the Frisco Fall Fest, Poche Plantation in Convent will also host its first fall festival. Mark Anderson, owner of Poche Plantation, said St. James Parish put out a resolution in favor of Poche Plantation holding a fall festival after Oak Alley said they would no longer have one. Anderson said over 90 percent of the vendors who frequented Oak Alley’s fall festival have already signed on to sell items at the Poche Plantation festival, which means local shoppers accustomed to picking up gifts or other items from particular vendors won’t have to See FUN, Page 8C
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