NEW IBERIA, La — Ribbons and banners of red and yellow deck New Iberia's Main Street in anticipation of the 10th annual New Iberia Spanish Festival—a celebration of the area's heritage and culture.
The New Iberia Spanish Festival celebrates the seven founding families of New Iberia.
"Which are Romero, Lopez, Segura, Miguez, Gary, Prados and Viator," said Hannah Bee, a festival board member. "The whole point of our festival is to kind of bring the Spanish culture back into our community. Our ancestors kind of lost that somewhere along the way, so our mission is to bring it back."
To do that, the city is welcoming a special group of guests.
"We're lucky enough to have 18 delegates from our sister city, Alhaurin de la Torre in Spain, to come and celebrate our festival with us," Bee said.
Kicking off at the Bouligny Plaza on Main Street Friday at 5 p.m., the festival will have an arts and crafts show, carnival rides and games and live music that will continue throughout the weekend.
Saturday, festivities will include the founding families parade, which features another direct link to Spain.
"They had a drive in Spain...to donate all their used flamenco dresses, and they shipped them here to us, so we got 75 beautiful dresses, and if you want to see them all during the parade, everybody will be wearing the dresses, and they'll be parading down Main Street," said Michelle Blanchard, another festival board member.
The dresses will also be worn during the flamenco dance classes happening later that afternoon.
The weekend will be full of fun.
Here's the full schedule for the family-friendly festival:
FRIDAY, APRIL 19:
- 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Arts & Crafts Show
- 5 p.m. - 10 p.m.: Carnival Rides & Games
- 6 p.m.: Opening Ceremony
- 6:30 p.m.: Re-enactment
- 7 p.m. - 9 p.m.: Karaoke Contest
- 9:30 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.: The Bad Boys
- 11:30 p.m.: Festival Grounds Close
SATURDAY, APRIL 20:
- 6:30 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.: Running of the Bulls Race
- 8 a.m.: 5k & 1 Mile Start Time
- 10:30 a.m.: Founding Families Parade (Parade starts at Main St. & Ann St. to Jefferson St.)
- 10:30 a.m. - 2 p.m.: Paella/Tapas/Jambalaya Cook-Off
- 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.: Carnival Rides & Games
- 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.: Arts & Crafts Show
- 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.: The Good Dudes
- 2 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.: Welcoming Ceremony & Cook-Off Awards
- 2:30 p.m. - 4 p.m.: Spanish Concert Band
- 4:30 p.m. - 6 p.m.: Authentic Master Dance Class: Flamenco/Tango/Sevillanas
- 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.: Kaleb Olivier and the Kinsmen
- 9 p.m. - 11 p.m.: Dustin Sonnier
- 11 p.m.: Festival Grounds Close
SUNDAY, APRIL 21:
- 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Mass of Thanksgiving, St. Peter's Catholic Church
- 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Registration for Car Show
- 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.: Arts & Crafts Show
- 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.: Carnival Rides & Games
- 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.: Car Show, Main Street
- 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.: Genealogy, Sliman Theatre
- 12 p.m. - 2 p.m.: Kevin Naquin & Cajun Preservation
- 2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Cory Ledet
- 4:30 p.m.: Car Show Awards
- 5 p.m.: Festival Grounds Close
To find out more about the festival, tune into KATC's Good Morning Acadiana on Friday.
