Destrehan Plantation’s 49th annual Fall Festival will fill the home’s expansive grounds with over 130 arts and crafts vendors, antique dealers, live entertainment and delicious food options on Saturday, Nov. 13 and Sunday, Nov. 14. from at 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Festival admission for a full day is $8 per adult or teen, $5 for children ages 6 to 12 and free for children 5 and under. A house tour will be available for an additional $8 per adult and teen and free for children 12 and under.
Craft vendors throughout the United States will be on hand to showcase their talent and sell their handcrafted items. Destrehan Plantation Executive Director Tracy Smith said the plantation’s mule barn promises to captivate antique collectors with distinctive pieces from antique dealers throughout Louisiana.
“This is the plantation’s biggest fundraiser each year,” Smith said of the fall festival. “I think the community is excited for it, especially after our community having to endure the pandemic and then a category 4 hurricane … we need a break. This will be something fun. I feel like there’s going to a lot of excitement this year.”
Smith said cleanup and recovery at the plantation started the day after Hurricane Ida. While the home’s grounds received a lot of tree and debris damage, Smith said the main structures were unaffected.
“I went out there and said, ‘My goal is to have this place cleaned up and ready for the festival,’” Smith said. “After the first few days of clean up I knew we were well on our way.”
Smith said all proceeds from the fall festival will go to the restoration and preservation of Destrehan Plantation and its dependency buildings, and that this year’s festival will feature more vendors than ever and the return of alcohol sales.
“I’m so happy we’re able to have it,” Smith said, adding the festival weekend marks the plantation’s first large-scale public event since Hurricane Ida.
No masks will be required outdoors at the event, Smith said, and the requirement for indoor mask wearing will be solely dependent on whether or not the state is under a mask mandate at the time of the festival.
Cochon de lait po-boys, shrimp and grits, shrimp po-boys, onion mums, BBQ sandwiches, andouille nachos and alligator on a stick are just a handful of the food options that will be available for purchase at the festival. Children’s activities will include pony rides, hand waxing, interactive games and arts and crafts, and there will be craft artisans demonstrating trades and domestic duties utilized in the early 1800’s as well.
Local band Les Bons-Riens will open the festival’s live entertainment on Nov. 13 from 10 a.m. to noon. They will be followed be Ryan Foret and Foret Tradition, which will perform from 12:30 to 4 p.m.
Kayla Woodson and Faith Becnel are scheduled to perform on Nov. 14. Becnel will take the stage from 10:30 a.m. to noon, followed by Woodson from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m.
Parking on the plantation’s property is free, and additional parking will be available on the levee and nearby Bridge Park. Destrehan Plantation is located at 13034 River Road in Destrehan.
Smith said the addition of extra vendor spots this year means there are a handful of spots still available. Any vendors interested in participating in the festival should send an email to melissa@destrehanplantation.org.
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