Alicia Broussard, owner of The Vanilla Bean Coffee Shop in Crowley, will participate in the 87th International Rice Festival for her 8th year. Broussard says preparation for her is a little different since her business is on Main Street where the festival is held.
"We have the opportunity to be able to run our regular coffee shop café during the day, and then come 5 o'clock, we switch everything over, have a whole new crew that comes in, and we turn into kind of like a bar," Broussard said.
She says it's crunch time for her business, and she and her employees are working after hours to ensure they will have enough food and drinks.
"I have a crew of girls that come to my house, and we start doing all of that," Broussard said. "Yesterday was Jell-O shots day, and we made half of our batch which was 700, and we have another 700 to go."
Broussard has a little extra each year to stay well-stocked for her customers.
"Every year, we make a little bit over what we estimate, and then I take the numbers from the previous year and make double," Broussard said.
Even though The Vanilla Bean will offer more food and drinks than usual, Broussard says the prices will remain reasonable so that people will support her local business.
"Right now it's really big on supporting local," Broussard said. "We can't stay here if nobody supports the local people."
The Vanilla Bean's operating hours for the Rice Festival will be Friday—7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 12 a.m., Saturday—8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 12 a.m., and Sunday and Monday.
