Norman Brown
September 4, 2015
King of the Swamp: ZZ returns home; happy for experience
September 9, 2015
The Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival got its start 80 years ago as a nod to the industries, and the people of St. Mary Parish continue to celebrate the region’s abundance of seafood and wealth of oil.
Set for Sept. 3-7, this year’s festival has been awarded the 2015 Division III Festival of the Year title by the Louisiana Association of Fairs and Festivals. The event last received the honor in 2006 and 2007.
“It really means a lot [to the community],” executive director Darby Isham said of the 80th anniversary. “The festival represents Morgan City, Berwick and Patterson, so it is really special to bring everybody together.”
Isham said the five-day event’s focus is on the traditional aspects – the boat blessing, carnival rides and games, arts and crafts, food and music.
The festival kicks off on Thursday at 1 p.m. with the 52nd Annual Artist Guild Unlimited Show and Sale, an annual art show hosted by the local non-profit organization that promotes the humanities through workshops, classes and gallery showings throughout the year. The show and sale are open for several hours on each day of the festival.
A ribbon cutting ceremony with festival royalty follows at 5 p.m. Thursday, officially inviting attendees to join the fun.
A host of bands are slated to take the stage each day with appearances by the always popular Wayne Toups, Waylon Thibodeaux and Don Rich among the mix.
A live painting demonstration from this year’s festival poster artist, Lafayette-based Tony Bernard, will also captivate audiences beginning at 9 p.m. Saturday.
One change to this year’s lineup is the site of Sunday’s Blessing of the Fleet. Traditionally held near the festival grounds in Morgan City, this year’s blessing is slated to take place in Berwick instead.
“I think it’s kind of special that for a big anniversary year we will be able to do something in another city that is represented by the festival,” Isham explained. “They’ve been wonderful to work with, welcomed us with open arms and they are going above and beyond anything we could ask for them to help with.”
Bishop Shelton Fabre, of the Diocese of Houma-Thibodaux, will preside over the blessing, as well as an 8:30 a.m. mass in Lawrence Park.
Sunday’s celebration ends with a street parade and fireworks show over the Atchafalaya River.
“Sunday is our most traditional day,” Isham explained. “The festival actually began with the street parade in 1936. They had that first jumbo shrimp catch and it came to the port of Morgan City. Trappers, shrimpers and hunters paraded the streets with this huge catch and that’s how the festival began.”
Isham is in her inaugural year as festival executive director. But she’s a longtime Morgan City resident. Her family relocated when Isham was 3 from Port Arthur, Texas. She left briefly in 2011 to earn a mass communications degree from Louisiana State University.
“It’s really neat to have gone away – you really get to appreciate home and the small town and everyone knows everyone,” the festival director said. “Everyone is family. We don’t have family here so it’s really special that everyone around here has kind of become family over the years. It’s really neat to be able to give back to a city that has welcomed us like they have.”
And Isham, like everyone in St. Mary, is excited to see the festival turn 80.
The Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival is set for 1-11 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 3; 11 a.m. – ll p.m. Friday, Sept. 4; 8 a.m.-ll p.m. Saturday, Sept. 5; 8:30 a.m.-ll p.m. Sunday, Sept. 6; and 9 a.m. – 9 p.m. Monday, Sept. 7.
Pay-one-price carnival ride bracelets are available for $25 at the festival grounds. A detail scheduled of events is available at shrimpandpetroleum.org.
