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Festival to Celebrate the Vermilion on Oct. 7

LAFAYETTE – The Bayou Vermilion Festival, which celebrates Lafayette’s waterway, is set for Sunday, October 7 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Vermilionville. Cajun and Zydeco bands, festival food, water activities, children’s crafts, wooden boats and antique car displays, and environmental presentations are scheduled for guests.

The festival will kick i nto high gear almost as soon as the doors are open with Geno Delafose & French Rockin’ Boogie starting things off at 10:30 a.m. Following him is Jason Frey & Lagniappe playing from 1 to 3 p.m. and the festival will close with Jesse Legé & The Southern Ramblers playing from 4 to 6 p.m.

Many of the day’s other activities will focus on the Bayou Vermilion. The traditionally built bateau, Cocodrie, will go out six times for 30-minute narrated boat tours. There will also be three, 45-minute canoe trips on the bayou. These outings will cost $5 per person, and space is limited. In the front of Vermilionville, several putt-putt wooden boats will be on display. Plus, local groups will be on hand to provide information on topics such as boating safety and environmental conservation.

Activities designed especially for children include hands-on crafts (nominal fee) and a bayou-themed, fact-scavenger hunt. All guests will get a chance to tour Vermilionville’s historic village, which represents a time period when the bayou was a major force in the daily lives of Cajuns and Creoles.

Festival food will be provided by Vermilionville’s restaurant, La Cuisine de Maman.

The Lafayette Parish Bayou Vermilion District is presenting this event. For the past six years it has gone by the name “Vermilion River Festival” but the district has changed the name to draw attention to the Louisiana’s distinctive culture and ecology.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for members and students (6-18); and those 5 and under get in free. For more information call 237-8360 or visit www.vermilionville.org.

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