Fourth Annual Promenade d’art de Franklin – Slated September 28, 2013

Fourth Annual Franklin Art Walk (Promenade d'art de Franklin)

The Franklin Art Walk is a Main Street Program event. The City of Franklin and its Main Street Board invite art connoisseurs to take a stroll along Franklin’s Main Street to explore Franklin’s creative culture by visiting with store merchants and the artists they host. You can speak with the artists and browse through their merchandise, which are both unique to south Louisiana. Purchase beautiful art from talented artists and take home souvenirs from your time in Franklin.

Musical entertainment for the Art Walk will be by Alfred Hill, Ted Foulcard and Jada Hawkins beginning at 3:30 pm and ending at 5:30 pm at the Hanagriff’s lot on Main Street.

A new addition to the Art Walk this year will include novelists Rhonda Dennis and Lynn Shurr. Rhonda Dennis is the author of the Green Bayou Novel Series, and Lynn Shurr is the author of the Mardi Gras and Sinners Series. Bring your books and get them signed, or you can purchase them the day of the event and get them signed.

There will be a few new attractions to the Art Walk this year, also. The Techeland Arts Council will host Une Assemblee de Connaisseurs d’Art (A Gathering of Art Connoisseurs) from 3:00 to 6:00 pm at The Lamp Post, which is on the corner of Jackson and Main Streets. The Techeland Arts Council will share its purpose, people, pictures and pieces of its production No Hitchin’.

Shadowlawn will host Parker Felterman who is the 14-year-old author of The Revolver. There will be music by the Bayou Saxophone Ensemble, which is an eight-piece saxophone group from Thibodaux. Additionally, St. Mary Landmarks Society will display political posters of past Franklin elections at Teche Ridge Office Supply, which will showcase Franklin’s contribution to Louisiana politics.

Franklin is slowly becoming a place where the arts thrive. I’m looking forward to this year’s Art Walk, and I think we have a little something for everyone to experience and enjoy!

Mark your calendar for the Fourth Annual Franklin Art Walk, September 28, 2013, from 3:00 to 6:00 pm. You can experience culture, history and hospitality all in one town—all of the things that make Franklin a special place. For more information contact Arlana Shields at (337) 828-6345, or by email at ashields@franklin-la.com.

 

78th Annual Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival

The 78th Annual Shrimp and Petroleum Festival Slated for Labor Day Weekend

Louisiana’s oldest chartered harvest festival is scheduled to celebrate 78 years of tradition and family fun, this upcoming Labor Day Weekend, August 29th – September 2nd, 2013.

The Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival will be held in Morgan City, only 90 miles from New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. Most festivities are held within the beautiful Downtown Historic District and are free to the general public. Great food, continuous free live music, traditional events, children’s activities and new events will highlight this five-day extravaganza.

The 50th Labor Day Art Show & Sale will start on Wednesday, August 28th and continue through Thursday, September 19th, located downtown at the Everett Street Gallery. Hours to view the exhibit will be daily during the festival from 11 am to 5 pm.

Thursday, August 29th; the official ribbon cutting will open the festival at 5:00 pm on Second Street under the US Highway 90 Bridge. Also, on Thursday, The Mitchell Brothers Carnival rides and games will begin at 5 pm and continue through Monday at 9 pm. Bracelets will be offered Thursday, August 29th from 5 to 9 pm, and Monday, September 2nd from 12 noon to 4 pm and 5 to 9 pm. Bracelets are $20.00 each.

Indulge your taste buds and satisfy your appetite at the 25th annual Cajun Culinary Classic, a showcase of local “home style” cooking featuring delicious Cajun & Creole dishes, as well as a variety of desserts and other cuisines. The Cajun Culinary Classic is open 5 pm to 11 pm Friday, 12 noon to 11 pm Saturday & Sunday, and 12 noon to 9 pm Monday. Local non-profit groups and civic organizations benefit from the proceeds.

The 36th Traditional Arts & Crafts Show & Sale will open on Friday, August 30th at 5 pm under the US Highway 90 Bridge and continue through Monday, September 2nd at 9 pm. The event features over 100 artists and crafters from south Louisiana with unique merchandise and artistic masterpieces.

Children’s Day activities will begin with children’s field & game events Saturday, August 31st at 9 am. Children of all ages can participate in sack races, three legged races and more. Professional storytellers will entertain kids as well as their parents with their wonderful stories after the field and games events. The Children’s Day Mini Street Parade will begin at 11 am also on Saturday. Decorated bicycles, wagons, strollers and four wheelers are welcome to participate. The Children’s Day King and Queen will officially open the Children’s Village with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, August 31st at 11:30 am. The Children’s Village is a magical play land featuring games, prizes, face-painting, and more. The Children’s Village will be open Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at 11:30 am.

Downtown comes alive with continuous free live music performed at the Heritage Music Stage. The festival will feature bright, upcoming artists from the area, as well as hometown legends. The music line up for this year will include: Friday, August 30th, 5:00 pm – Crossroads, 7:00 pm – Cayenne, 9:00 pm – Bag of Donuts; Saturday, August 31st, 1:00 pm – Blue Eyed Soul Revue, 3:30 pm – Voodoo Bayou Band, 6:00 pm – Six Gun Rail, & 9:00 pm TBA; Sunday, September 1st, 1:00 pm – Driftwood, 3:30 pm – 90 Degrees West, 6:00 pm – Supercharger, & 9:00 pm – Mojeaux; Monday, September 2nd, 1:00 pm – Louisiana Roadhouse Band, 3:00 pm – Déjà vu, 5:00 pm – South 70, & 7:00 pm – Chubby Carrier with Amanda Shaw.

There will be many special events throughout the weekend. A Cultural & Heritage Expo will be on display next to the festival office from Friday through Monday 11 am to 5pm. There will be a NSA Softball Tournament at Kemper Williams Park starting Friday at 6:30 pm, and continuing Saturday morning at 8 am. Cypress Corvette Club Open Car Show will take place on Saturday from 8 am to 3 pm at M.D. Shannon Elementary. Also, Saturday, Doiron’s Bass Tournament will begin at daylight. A 5K Fun Run/Walk and LA High School Swim Relays will begin 8 am on Saturday. The Gospel Stage will also open on Saturday at Joy Fellowship Ministries of Morgan City, 712 Third Street, at 12 noon, and again on Sunday at 1 pm.

Traditional activities on Sunday will take place starting with Mass in the Park. The community will give thanks for its blessings at Mass in the Park at 8:30 am Sunday, September 1st, and will be celebrated under the oaks in Lawrence Park. Everyone is invited to attend. The Historic Blessing of the Fleet will begin at 10 am on the Atchafalaya River, followed by the water parade, which features decorated shrimp boats, pleasure craft, offshore supply boats and some of the biggest “muscle” boats of the offshore industry including supply boats, crew boats and tugboats. The Street Parade will begin at the corner of Second & Onstead Streets at 3 pm featuring past and present royalty along with this year’s maids and their pages, and visiting queens from various festivals throughout the state. Fireworks on the River will begin at 9 pm Sunday evening. Grab a spot in Lawrence Park, along the seawall or old Morgan City/Berwick Bridge and enjoy the firework spectacular.

The festival began in 1936 when the placid port of Morgan City and Berwick received the first boatload of jumbo shrimp, fresh from the deepest Gulf waters. The festival became the Louisiana Shrimp & Petroleum Festival in 1967, when the oil industry was firmly implanted into the local economy.

The festival has grown to become one of the state’s premiere festivals. The festival was voted Festival of the Year in Division III for the past nine years and by the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals, a top 100 American Bus Association event, and a top 20 Southeast Tourism Society event. In July of 1991 Time magazine described the festival as “...the best, the most unusual, the most down-home, the most moving and the most fun that the country has to offer.”

Festival organizers invite you to bring your family to Morgan City for Labor Day weekend to enjoy 78 years of tradition and family fun. For more information, contact the festival office at (985) 385-0703, or visit the festival’s web site at www.shrimp-petrofest.org. For a festival schedule, contact the Cajun Coast Visitors & Convention Bureau at (800) 256-2931 or the festival office at the above number.