Festival goers can take in two great festivals this weekend on the East Bank. The 38th Annual Destrehan Plantation Fall Festival on Saturday and Sunday and the River Parishes Fall Festival from Friday through Sunday in Norco. Nancy Robert with the Destrehan Plantation festival said she believes that people will not have to choose between the two events because they can attend both.
“They are two completely different kinds of events,” Robert said. “People can come to both and still have a great time.”
Cristalle Poche, who planned the River Parishes festival, said that scheduling the events on the same weekend was unavoidable because of the availability of rides.
“Normally we try to schedule opposite the local festivals, but sometimes it can’t be avoided,” Poche said. “We’re kind of at the mercy of the ride company. We use Lowery Brothers Amusement because of their safety.”
The Destrehan Plantation festival is offering many new attractions this year, including a newly designed t-shirt, new vendors and a space walk.
“We’re going to have a space walk that will be free if the parents want to leave their children to get away and do shopping on their own,” Robert said. “They can sign them in for an hour. We’ll have people monitoring that.”
As for vendors, Robert said that there are always new faces at the festival and that the old vendors are also offering new crafts.
“We always have new vendors. We’re also finding with the popularity of the fleur de lys that we have several vendors who have added fleur-de-0lis items to their crafts,” Robert said. “It’s a variety and a lot of gift ideas. There are things for the house, clothing, and all kinds of wonderful handcrafted items.”
There will also be a big-screen television at the Destrehan festival on Sunday so that no one will have to miss the New Orleans Saints football game.
Admission to the Destrehan festival is $7 for adults and teens, with children under 12 admitted free. Tours of the plantation house by costumed tour guides will be available for an additional fee.
Poche said she believes that the River Parishes festival offers such a different type of entertainment that there will not be much competition between the two events.
“(The River Parishes festival) is so different from the (Destrehan) festival. Ours goes until 9 or 10 p.m. and we have some really awesome rides for the children,” Poche said. “I think the Destrehan Plantation Festival is geared more toward an older crowd and it’s more of a shopping-mall type of atmosphere. We’re geared more towards children.”
The River Parishes festival is also incorporating new items, such as a motorcycle exposition and a raw oyster bar, into its line-up this year.
“We’ve been trying to come up with an idea to bring in more people from outside of the parish and we thought (the motorcycle expo) might be a good idea to try to bring in some people that normally wouldn’t travel out this way,” Poche said.
Also at the River Parishes festival will be the local band Keeping Crescent.
“This is the first time they’re going to play at a festival, I believe. It’s Destrehan and Norco boys who did this as their senior class project a few years ago,” Poche said. “They’ve moved on, but they still have their band together.”
This will also be the first year that the festival has offered a country band.
“We’re trying to cater to everyone’s taste as far as music goes,” Poche said.
A lot of the money that is made at the River Parishes Fall Festival goes into charities, including ministries and food banks, according to Poche.
Admission to the River Parishes festival is free.
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