LAFAYETTE, La. — The third annual Okra Music and Arts Festival is set to kick off this weekend offering a fun yet educational celebration of food, music, and culture in the historic Heymann Park.
KATC met with Brenda Andrus, one of the event organizers and she highlights how the rich history of okra and its cultural significance will be on display at the festival.
"To me that's one of my favorite dish, but okra comes from way back when, when my grandmother was living. I mean, it's in our culture, it's just a special vegetable that everybody enjoys," she says. "You can cook it different ways. It stew mostly in gumbo and we want to pass it down to the next generation. It's not just for the elders, for everybody to learn about it."
Festival-goers can expect a variety of food, including five chefs cooking their specialties with free samples available until supplies run out.
Ron Nicholas, Jr. is a local herbalist and was passed down the knowledge of okra and other plants through past generations he tells KATC that for many in the African-American culture, the vegetable is a reminder of a dark time in the nations history.
"It's fantastic because it celebrates and highlights you know, creole culture, which was brought here via the transatlantic slave trade," Nicholas says. "Interestingly, sometimes you would see those who were enslaved, the women, they would have the okra pods, dried okra pods braided into their hair. So okra has a rich tradition, that's how it got here."
Okra was brought to the United States by enslaved people via the transatlantic slave trade between the 16th and 19th centuries.
Officials for the festival say that the vegetable of many benefits. Such as being high in vitamins A and C, as well as antioxidants that help reduce the risk of serious health conditions like cancer, diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. Okra is also a good source of magnesium.
Attendees can also enjoy two food trucks, arts and crafts, over 35 vendors, and live music with performances from Dr. Boogie Live, Donna Angelle and The Zydeco Posse'.
Storytelling will be provided by Bishop John Milton and Rebecca Henry. African drumming by Pucci Percussions, F.I.R.E. Expression by Leigha T. Porter.
The festival will also have a local photographer to film the festival for a future documentary on okra’s history, ways to cook it and its significance to African culture.
The event is set to take place on Sunday 2pm to 7pm at 1500 Orange Street. Lafayette La. and attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs.
Pets and glass containers are not allowed.
