Art After Dark returns to Houma
September 5, 2012
Chartering a Comeback
September 5, 2012
For the first time in nearly a decade, downtown Houma hosts a free two-day festival celebrating south Louisiana culture. The two-year trial is an attempt to further Terrebonne’s mantra that it is a capable and legitimate tourism destination, organizers say.
Best of the Bayou Festival is the ambitious product’s name. It features 24 musical acts culled from the local and regional talent pools, up to 50 artisans displaying and selling homemade crafts and about a dozen local food vendors. Organizers are preparing to serve 15,000 festivalgoers, says Drake Pothier, the festival’s executive director and the Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce CEO.
The festival is downtown Houma’s first since 2003, the last year Downtown on the Bayou was held.
“We didn’t want to bring back Downtown on the Bayou,” Pothier says. “We wanted to kind of carve out our own path and create our own history.”
Tourism-recovery grant funding allocated after the fatal 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon explosion and subsequent oil spill ensures the festival’s existence for at least two years. The festival’s seed money, out of $2 million the parish received in tourism-recovery money, is $175,000 per year.
Organizers are making an aggressive play to carve out a niche and extend the festival’s life beyond 2013. Due to sponsorships and donations, the festival’s budget is about $240,000, nearly a quarter of which is dedicated to a marketing blitz from Lafayette to New Orleans.
“We went for the gusto in these first two years, and we’re doing that intentionally,” Pothier says. “We wanted to be aggressive and put this festival on the map.”
An indication of that aggression is the musician lineup, which includes Lafayette’s GIVERS closing the festival with a 75-minute set beginning at 6:45 p.m. on Sunday. The pop rock group gained national notoriety with the release of “Up Up Up,” featured on EA Sports’ FIFA 12, FOX’s “Glee” and CBS’ “Big Brother.”
More than a year and a half after signing with Glassnote Records, GIVERS adds Best of the Bayou to its impressive festival résumé, which includes Jazz Fest, Coachella and Lollapalooza.
Marc Broussard headlines Saturday’s slate, which includes Ruthie Foster, of Texas, Bonerama and popular local performers like Isle Derniére, Baby Bee and Clay Parker. Sunday’s highlights include The Gourds, of Texas, Al Lil Fats Jackson, Cowboy Mouth, Don Rich and Red Stick Ramblers.
“We’re hoping with the bands that have been selected that we do have fans of Marc Broussard and fans of GIVERS from Lafayette to come down and see a festival in Houma,” festival manager Lori Toups Benoit says. “Same thing with the bands from New Orleans.”
Local bands should benefit from the visitor-comprised crowds, likely music fans traveling to see some of their regional favorites, Pothier says.
The Gulf Groove Stage is plotted near the intersection of Main and Grinage, and at the opposite end of the downtown festival ground, the Boudin Bayou Stage is set near the corner of Main and Barrow.
Although music is the festival’s anchor, various vendors selling crafts and food anticipate showing off their bayou-centric productions.
Houma-based Options for Independence is vetting arts and crafts vendors for the festival. The non-profit organization created the Gulf Coast Marketplace, which works closely with area artisans to help them sell their crafts.
Brandi LeCompte, Gulf Coast Marketplace project manager, says she is still accepting applications for the 50 booths available at Best of the Bayou. Only handmade crafts are accepted.
“We are hoping that we’re going to get all high-quality, handmade artists, and so far we have,” LeCompte says. “We are looking for any types of handmade art. It can be anything from paintings to woodworking.”
Local authors, whether they write fiction or compile recipes for a cookbook, are also invited to display and sell their art, LeCompte says. Already-booked vendors are scheduled to sell jewelry, embroidery, wooden toys, soap, home décor and various other items.
Becky Walker, who has sold her embroidery at craft shows for about 30 years, is one of the crafts vendors who plans to set up a booth in the marketplace between Goode and Roussell streets. Walker’s offerings include personalized needlework on ribbons, shirts, photo albums and more.
The 60-year-old Houma resident says local artisans were hoping for another event to showcase their crafts.
“Pretty much the only thing we had for local vendors was Southdown Marketplace (after Downtown on the Bayou),” Walker says. “I think people wanted another festival.”
On the eatery side, Terrebonne ARC is one of at least 10 food vendors set up around the parish courthouse. The non-profit organization plans to serve chicken and sausage gumbo with potato salad and teacakes.
“This is our way of giving back to our entire community,” TARC Marketing Director Erica Null says. “We’re hoping to sell out, but we’re mainly looking forward to a great time with good music, good company and great friends for a great cause.”
“Bayouland Kids’ Korner,” featuring hands-on activities such as painting, is located at the corner of Roussell and Belanger streets.
Even football fans should be satisfied. The LSU Tigers’ home game against Towson University and the New Orleans Saints’ road game against the Green Bay Packers are to be televised on projection screens in the festival’s sports bar, in the Mardi Gras Hall at 7880 Main St.
Aside from a VIP lot dedicated to sponsors, the parking situation is the free-for-all, get-in-where-you-fit-in method familiar to Mardi Gras revelers. Downtown is barricaded from at least Grinage to Barrow streets along Main, and everything north of School Street will be closed to vehicular traffic.
Organizers say they are still accepting volunteers. To lend a hand, contact the Houma-Terrebonne Chamber of Commerce at (985) 876-5600.
Pothier says the area can service the influx of tourists he expects to show up for Best of the Bayou.
“I definitely think that Terrebonne is long overdue for an event of this size and we can support this as well as support the events already in existence,” Pothier says. “I think it’s a great opportunity for us to showcase what this community has to offer to the rest of the people in this state, and frankly, to locals.”
The festival is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.
Susan Shaffer displays her painting, which was selected as the inaugural Best of the Bayou poster. Shaffer, of Schriever, is available to sign copies of the poster at the festival. The untitled painting is acrylic on gessoed canvas. The two-day festival starts Sept. 29.
